Reaper of Gods
by RenegadeWaya
Summary: Tsukishima's power breaks Ichigo's mind and spirit. When his friends and family no longer know him as anything but their worst enemy he tries to flee to Hueco Mundo but due to his injuries doesn't make it through the void before losing consciousness and falls in the cracks between worlds. When he wakes up it's as a defeated man in a world not his own and no desire to keep living.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue: Despair and falling through the void.**

SHUNK!

Ichigo stared down at the sword sticking out of his chest, disbelief prominent in his eyes. He could feel the sword grinding against his flesh and bones when he struggled to breath with his now pierced lung. Slowly tracking the length of the blade Ichigo stares at the man he had come to think of as a friend with a questioning look.

"…why?" he barely manages to croak out.

Kūgo Ginjō smirked at him with malevolence and a hint of sadistic pleasure dancing in his eyes.

"Why?" he taunts the hint of sadistic pleasure growing as he continues. "Why what? Why did I stab you? Why are you dying? Or did you mean to ask why I finally stopped grew bored of this charade?"

Ichigo just stared blankly in disbelief at the man who he had once seen as an older brother all but admit he had been playing with him. His gaze was drawn to the smirking man standing behind Ginjō watching the scene with pleasure evident in his gaze. An idea popped into his head and he was filled with a faint amount of despair.

"…he…got to you too." As soon as he forced the words out of his mouths he coughed up some blood.

Ginjō looked at him with a bit of surprise before he quickly adopted an expression that conveyed the amusement he felt at Ichigo's explanation.

"You just don't get it do you Kurasaki?" Ginjō sighed. "Tsukishima didn't use his Fullbring on me."

"THEN WHY ARE YOU HELPING HIM!?" Ichigo screamed.

Pity briefly showed on Ginjō's face before he sighed once more.

"Because we've been allies from the beginning. Strictly speaking we didn't need to go through with this elaborate farce but well we've picked up some bad habits and we just wanted to see those cute expressions of despair on your face."

Ichigo felt his heart break just a bit more after hearing those words while his vision continued to grow blurrier as blood continued to pump from his wounds. Breathing was becoming increasingly difficult but he still continued the dialogue.

"You used your fucked up power on my friends and altered their memories just so you could enjoy watching my world crumble around me!?" Ichigo half yelled half cried.

"Well you're right and then you're wrong. The main goal was for you to regain your powers so we could steal your powers, messing with your head was just a fun side project." Ginjō replied nonchalantly.

Ichigo nearly threw up some blood at the statement and was about to let out an angry retort before Ginjō's next word's caused the response to die in his throat and his blood to run cold.

"Besides you've got another thing wrong, it wasn't your friend's I had Tsukishima use his Fullbring on…it was you."

The words caused Ichigo's mind to go into turmoil as a look of horror and confusion appeared on face, causing both Ginjō and Tsukishima to adopt looks of sadistic glee.

Tsukishima continued where Ginjō stopped with the explanation. "You see the Hollow that attacked my mother was a bit special, not only did it nearly kill her but it also affected her very existence. You see, after the attack it was like no one could remember her and if not for the few physical records that proved otherwise no one would think she existed. Apparently the nature of the hollow can effect a Fullbring quite a bit."

"You see when my _Book of the End_ was first awakened its powers were much like you've been led to believe. However, much like you and your friend Chad it was not in its true form. When it was finished it no longer simply put me in another's memories but let me manipulate all memories connected to the person I cut as well. Whether that is merely adding myself to them, removing/replacing someone in them or even changing details. Of course the downside is if I choose the latter option I can't affect that person's own memories but the benefits out way that little demerit don't you think?" Tsukishima finished his speech with a smile that seemed amiable but contained an almost infinite amount of maliciousness.

Flashbacks of a time when Rukia was forgotten by all but him flashed in his mind while his horror continued to grow. The mental blow proved to be too much for him when combined with his injury and Ichigo lost the strength needed to continue standing and sunk to his knees.

"...H…How?" The words barely a whisper in wind.

Smirking Ginjō and Tsukishima shared a brief glance before Ginjō finally pulled out his sword with a loud squelch. Flicking the blood of his Fullbring he stabbed it into the ground before leaning against it. An amused look appeared on his face before he decided to answer his question.

"You don't think we taught or even shown you everything you can do with a Fullbring did you? Our powers use Reiryoku and come from Hollows and while we may be human some things carry over, such as the ability to not be seen by those not spiritually aware." He finished with a hint of both amusement and smugness in his voice.

Ichigo's eyes would have widened with the realization of what those words meant if he wasn't currently lying in a pool of his own blood slowly dying. Tsukishima seeing that Ichigo was close to death decided to offer him a few final parting taunts.

"Don't worry Kurosaki-kun, I'll make sure they don't even remember your existence so they won't be sad. Instead they'll have me, who for various 'past' events and reasons will see me as the one person they adore to the point they'd do anything to please."

Those word's stirred Ichigo's mind as the implications stirred feelings of rage in his very soul.

"Hmm, you know I haven't been able to enjoy a cute girl in a while as I've been too busy enjoying messing with you."

Ichigo was no longer breathing but he still retained enough awareness to perceive his words and they stirred something dark in him as his rage mounted.

"Now that I think of it, your sister's are pretty cute aren't they? I think I'll enjoy them first after we absorb your soul when you finally die." Tsukishima stated simply with a cold smile on his face.

"Man, you're a pretty fucked up bastard, have to go for the cheap shot while he's already out." Ginjō said with a dark chuckle.

Rage instantly turned into incomprehensible amounts of fury and the darkness lurking in his soul latched onto it and exploded. Ichigo's Fullbring, long since dispersed, exploded in black shadows which quickly engulfed his now moving body. Ginjō and Tsukishima stared at him in surprise as Ichigo struggled to stand up as he was covered in shadows. With his face currently wrapped in dark flame-like shadows it was impossible to see any features until blood red eyes slowly became visible in the dense blackness.

Ichigo appeared to be staring at the ground briefly before he looked up and focused his gaze on Tsukishima. Tsukishima couldn't help but take a small step back when he noticed the pure amount of malice in those eyes and was about to chastise himself when 'it' screamed. The scream sound like multiple voices all overlapping each with their own prominent emotion. Once was fury, one was despair, one was anguish, and one was simply the cry of a beast.

Following the cry, the shadows engulfing Ichigo's body exploded, which combined with the shockwave produced by his roar pushed both Ginjō and Tsukishima back several feet. When the dust cleared what was standing before them was no longer human, it was a demon in human form. Where Ichigo's Fullbring once had white cloth-like strips now had the bones of a human, and what was once an ordinary short sword was now a tool of torture and malice. Now over a meter long with the edge replaced by sharp jagged 'teeth' with a handle of bone and the guard replaced by a human skull. The tip of the sword seemed to have an illusion of dripping blood as it disappeared when it his, now clawed and boney feet.

The changes didn't stop there as now Ichigo's face was now covered with a white hollow-like mask, with red stripes down each eye, forward facing horns and long blood red hair pouring out the back. The only reason they didn't think Ichigo had actually fully turned into a hollow was that instead of the normal black eyes and gold irises his were all red with only a faint hint of black along the edges.

Ginjō by this point had taken up his sword while Tsukishima showed the true form of his Fullbring, that of a black and red scythe. Before they could attack though Ichigo disappeared from their eyes and before he could react Ginjō was beheaded. Tsukishima watched the seen in shock as Ginjō's now headless corpse fell to the ground next to the malevolent form of a growling Ichigo. Once more the thing that was once Ichigo screamed, this time even louder, and the air pressure combined with the Reiatsu caused Tsukishima's knees to tremble as he struggled to stay upright.

Before 'Ichigo' could attack once more a few things happened. The first was the appearance of the remaining members of Xcution behind Tsukishima, all ready for battle but apprehension showing in their eyes. The second was the arrival of Ichigo's spiritually aware friends off to the side (including Uryū who had been earlier released from the hospital) who, after briefly looking at Ginjō's body in horror, adopted angry looks and faced the hollow (in their eyes) standing next to the body. The third and final thing was the opening of the Senkaimon and the subsequent arrival of Ichigo's former friends from Soul Society, all of home stared apprehensively down at the transformed Ichigo.

'Ichigo' didn't seem to notice the new arrivals at all as his eye's never stopped boring into Tsukishima's, a fact that caused said man to involuntarily shiver. He was about to open his mouth to speak when quicker than he could blink Ichigo hunched forwarded and a glowing red ball appeared in between his horns. This action caused everyone present to widen their eyes in surprise and prepare to attack/defend themselves. Before they could fully react however the red Cero fired towards Tsukishima (and the members of Xcution).

Tsukishima and the rest had just barely enough time to adopt a hasty defense before being engulfed in the violent red energy. Their figures faded under the intense energy and their Reiatsu disappeared causing those not in the blast to cry out in fear. Of course this action provoked a response and Ichigo's friends and allies swiftly started a counterattack with their full power (Bankais included). The beast roared in response and a brutal fight started.

While this was going on Orihime was rushing to the spot she last saw Tsukishima all the while crying and calling out his name. She found his body and was at first stunned by the horrible burnt state of his body before quickly rushing to heal him after noticing a faint movement from his chest quickly enveloping the body in her power's signature orange shield.

Meanwhile the fight between Ichigo and his friends was going poorly thanks to their excellent coordination, numbers and due to the fact Ichigo was running fully on hollow instinct. As such Ichigo's body was covered with deep wounds which while healing (thanks to his hollow powers) were doing so at an increasingly slower rate as his energy continued to be expended. It was after he beat back Renji and taking a hit across the back from Rukia that the smoke from his early blast faded and the sight of Orihime healing Tsukishima appeared before him.

This caused him to unleash his scream for the last time, knocking back his opponents for a brief moment and enabling him to rush out of his encirclement. His friend's barely had time to react before he disappeared in a burst of speed next to Orihime and bated her away. It was as he was bringing down his sword to finish him off under the horrified gazes of his former friends that Tsukishima (who was somehow still conscious) said his final words.

"Even if you kill me the changes in their memories won't revert back, they'll be permanent. So enjoy your revenge monster as regardless of what happens I'll make sure they know both you're faces as the worst evil they've ever known."

With his final gloating words still in the air Ichigo brought down his sword and decapitated Tsukishima, killing him once and for all. It seemed like this final action depleted him of all energy however as he was unable to respond when his former friends, roaring in anger and pain, launched attacks at his unmoving form. The results were a large explosion that engulfed his body and temporarily blinded their senses.

A small amount of time passed before the air cleared and the scene of a horribly injured Ichigo appeared on his knees before them, his mask half gone and his eye's no longer red. Despite not being aware or in control of his actions for the time after he transformed he was still able to recall Tsukishima's dying words and after suffering the enraged killing attacks of his friends he knew them to be true. With despair filled eyes he managed to move his mangled body just enough to look at his friends and what he saw crushed his heart, leaving him feeling dead inside.

Sometime during the last attacks and now his remaining friends and family had shown up to the scene of the battle and were staring at him with looks of pure rage. But it wasn't until he saw the forms of his sisters with tears in their eyes while they stared at Tsukishima's body calling desperately for their 'Tsuki-nii' that he lost all hope.

Ichigo couldn't bear the pain he was feeling and immediately turned to flee but was quickly set upon. Reacting purely on instinct and using the last of his hollow power he opened up a Garganta and jumped through. He didn't make it unscathed however as he was run through from behind, an injury which nicked his heart and lung. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was the voice of his own father (who had just stabbed him) yelling at him.

"ICHIGO YOU MONSTER, I WILL HUNT YOU FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE IF I HAVE TO! YOU WILL PAY FOR KILLING MY SON EVEN IF IT TAKES ALL OF ETERNITY!"

Those were the words that carried Ichigo into unconsciousness as the Garganta closed and he was cut off from the world. However, just because he escaped by entering the Garganta doesn't mean he was safe. Due to his first attempt at opening a Garganta himself being done in such an extreme state for him (both mentally, physically and with next to zero energy) it was inherently unstable. Add to the fact that he wasn't conscious he couldn't form a Reishi platform to be on and thus Ichigo fell in the dark void in-between worlds.

 **AN: So I currently have a few story ideas just floating around in my head (well they've been there for a while but I haven't been able to write them yet) and this is one of them. Personally I'm a bit sad by the small number of Fullbringer Ichigo stories (especially crossovers) as most people tend to focus on his soul reaper powers even in worlds where they don't mesh as well. So I thought why not write a story with that, and then I've been on a Champione crossover binge lately so I decided to merge the two and this story is the result. Hope you enjoyed the story. P.S. I also have a Harry Potter/Fate crossover and Mass Effect/Gundam Seed crossover story ideas that I'm working on.**

 **-Ren**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1: A new world, a chance encounter.**

A pure white figure watched passively as the world around him crumbled into ash. Once mighty skyscrapers not little more than sand endlessly encroaching on those few towers that have yet to fall. The figure turned his gaze towards the sky once clear and full of light now not even rainclouds showed themselves, it was just an empty void.

The figure sighed, one full of sadness and resignation. He briefly looked towards the spot his former companion once occupied. Regardless of their differences he felt oddly lonely now that he was no longer there. They got a long like fire and water but they both had the same exact purpose in life….and they had watched helplessly as they failed and now? Now neither of them could even make sure to do better in the future.

The old man had left him a while ago in order to attempt to keep true to his words…and to atone for his mistakes. He seemed to have succeeded in at least ensuring Ichigo's survival but like everything in life there was a price to be paid. The old man had known what would happen, of that the figure was sure, and didn't regret his chosen path. His only regret, and the only time in the figure's memory where he spoken to him with any amount of remorse, was keeping Ichigo from him and his lying about his heritage.

The old man's last words before burning his entire existence in an attempt to save Ichigo's life was that he knew he wouldn't be forgiven and if he could have he would have done things differently.

" **The fool"** the figure whispered. **"King would have forgiven you. Hell, he probably would have ended up treating you the same as me, kid was just like that. You just let your guilt get in the way of what you know to be true."**

After speaking out loud his thoughts the figure resumed his subdued vigil of his world. He didn't know how long he watched tower after tower fall, each one a reminder of the damage Ichigo's heart and mind has suffered. And how he no longer had hopes or aspirations of the future. Eventually his tower was the last one standing amongst endless white dunes.

For the last time the figure looked up at the sky and sighed.

" **I never told ya did I King?"** The figure said to the void. **"It wasn't just the old man who hated the rain, if anything my hatred was even stronger. But this? I'd rather have endless rain than see this happen."**

The figure paused as he heard his last tower crack and begin to tremble, groaning under its own weight as the endless sand washed against its sides. Turning to stare at the tower he recalled Ichigo's oldest and strongest dream.

The dream of family, of dating Orihime and bringing her back to his family to live with them. To grow older and watch his father hold his grandchildren in his arms as he cried and talked to his beloved wife's picture. Of seeing his sisters grow older and marrying the one they loved. Of watching his nieces and nephews grow up and call him Uncle. Of seeing his kids, all of them with the same warm orange hair as their mother, grow up laughing and happy calling him daddy while he watched them with his wife in his arms.

Now…the dream was impossible and Ichigo's very soul was crying out as it shattered, for the first time throughout the collapse the figure screamed. The scream was one of pure agony and suffering. The figure couldn't bear the pain anymore and turned away, no longer screaming but quietly crying as he prepared for the last act of his existence. Slowly his body appeared to catch fire starting from the bottoms of his feet and slowly crawling up the rest of his body. The process was excruciating even for the figure but he didn't make a sound as he solemnly stared out into the endless desert, anything was better than seeing the death of all he worked to protect.

" **You know something King? All I ever really wanted was for you to accept yourself, all of yourself. If that meant always playing the role of your inner demon that was fine with me, as that is part of me as well. I wanted you to be happy. Whereas the old man wanted to protect you, I wanted to protect your dreams and if possible achieve them. Now they are gone and I don't have a purpose any more. I hope that it's possible for you to one day heal, but even if you do I won't be here. All I can do now is help the old man make sure you live, and make sure you have at least some power to defend yourself. Though I'm not sure if you'd even try to save yourself if given the option."**

The last sentence was whispered so quietly no one would be able to hear it even if they were standing next to him. By this point the white man who looked like a bleached twin of his king was entirely covered in flames and his body started to fade away into nothingness.

" **There is only one thing I wanted that was purely selfish King…I wanted to hear you call me by my name at least once. I know you can't hear anything I've said but I wanted to let you know what it is anyways. My name is…** _ **Zangetsu**_ **."**

With those final words the figure known as Zangetsu, who Ichigo had once hated and feared as a monster completely disappeared from existence. Almost as if it had only stood upright for the figure's last moments the final tower crumbled and the world become nothing more than sand and darkness. All the while Ichigo continued to fall quietly through the dark void between worlds, protected by the dying wills of his spirits.

The void in between worlds, the endless dark expanse that Ichigo continued to fall through, was more than what people assumed. True it was the gap between all worlds, it was even in the Dangai though the Kōryū hid it from sight. But that wasn't all that it was. Instead of calling it the void between worlds it would be more accurate to call it the void between realities. Ichigo's 'world', the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo are special in that they are extremely close to each other and because of the proximity the reincarnation circle was somehow formed.

However, there are other realities, or 'worlds', that are in close proximity (relatively speaking) one of them being the Valley of Screams. But most of those are small, confined 'worlds' and not truly different (alternate) realities. In order to travel far enough through the void to reach one of these it would require one to cross an extreme amount of distance, and travel through the void gets harder the farther from your 'home world' you get. In fact, the distance needed to travel would ensure that even Kenpachi himself wouldn't have enough Reiryoku to make the trip.

Yet due to the actions of his spirits and his own inherent powers and reserves Ichigo after traveling an indeterminable amount of time was now reaching the border of one such reality. This 'world' was different in many ways from his home but the one that is currently important is how its bubble, for lack of a better term, works. Unlike Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, or Ichigo's Earth there is no hard shell that separates it from the void. Instead there are several layers that surround and isolate it that can be easily moved through if one had power. There was no need to consciously create a crack or hole to travel through, as long as one had a sufficient amount of energy, in one form or the other, the process was basically automatic, at least from the outside going in.

Ichigo, thanks to his protective shell, had just enough power left to do so and thus he crashed to Earth, though not the one he knew.

It was afternoon in Tokyo with about an hour or so before the sunset. Walking along a solitary road a black haired youth of about 15-16 years of age was walking along with a younger brown haired girl who appeared to be his sister. They had apparently just come from the grocery store as evidenced by the grocery bags both were carrying.

The young man was walking along silently, trying to tune out his sister, who appeared to be berating his character.

"I can't believe you Onii-san, how could you go and seduce that poor girl at the convenience store. You don't even know her! You're taking more and more after Jii-san each year."

The girl's brother sighs resignedly, apparently used to hearing this kind of complaint.

"Shizuka, I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't hit on her all I did was greet her. Don't try to make me out as some playboy lady-killer, girls aren't even interested in me."

"There you go again you won't even admit what you're doing! Gah, I'm going to have to try harder to reform your lecherous ways baka-nii."

The brother was about to respond when he suddenly notices a figure lying on the ground in a side alley. That's when the smell hit, blood, and it was coming from the figure's direction. Now the young man didn't think of himself as someone who reacts decisively, or quickly, to emergencies but he was able to remain calm. He quickly rushed towards the figure and yelled at his surprised sister.

"Shizuka! Call an ambulance, now!"

Shizuka was too stunned by the abrupt change to respond but she was able to react to the command and quickly pulled out her phone. Meanwhile her brother had reached the prone figure and was checking for a pulse. Thankfully he found one, although it was weak, so the young man, who didn't appear more than a year older than himself, was still alive. He was however bleeding badly, as evident by the massive pool of blood underneath him.

"Onii-san! The ambulance is on its way, no more than 10 minutes!"

The young teen made no verbal confirmation of her words other than a grunt as he looked over the badly injured teen. The first thing he noted was the gaping hole in his back which if he looked closely, showed bits of bone and organs (something that nearly caused him to vomit). He quickly took of his school jacket and bunched it up in an attempt to at least slow the rate of blood loss, though it was amazing the stranger even had any blood left considering the massive pool he was in and the quick rate his various wounds bled.

While this injury was the most obvious, and thus the one he focused on, it was almost equally obvious that there were many wounds that look nearly as serious. Beyond the sheer number of injuries on his body the other thing that instantly drew his eye was his long red hair that was splayed out over the top of his head. Although on closer inspection the red seemed to be caused by the blood dying his orange hair, something that was mildly curious to him.

He was broken out of his observations by the sound of a siren drawing near, something he was quite thankful for. He noticed his sister standing in the entrance to the alleyway staring at the wounded man, something than made him cringe. He didn't want his sister to see this sight but it was too late now, he resolved myself to talk with her along with Jii-san later.

After about another minute of tense waiting as he continued to apply pressure to the man's back the ambulance arrived and he was greeted to the noise of quickly running feet. He looked up from the stranger's back and looked towards the sound. Apparently the paramedics were stunned by what they saw, which was understandable, but to their credit it didn't last more than a moment before they continued running to his side.

"He's been bleeding heavily since before I found him, the worst injury is on his back and is what I'm currently applying pressure to."

One of the paramedics nodded to him before reaching to take over for him as his partners prepared a stretcher. Their actions were quick and efficient as they soon got him on the stretcher before rushing back to the ambulance. The driver, who had been preparing supplies in the back, returned to his seat before calling out to the siblings.

"I'm sorry but the police will definitely want to talk to you about this, can you please meet us at the Hospital?"

The young man rather numbly nodded his head before taking his sister's hand, not noticing the large amount of blood covering him.

The driver just nodded in thanks and once the medics boarded his vehicle quickly drove off, sirens blaring.

Shizuka held onto her brother's hand tightly before asking quietly.

"Will he be ok, nii-san?"

"I don't know, but I hope so. You up to going to the hospital?"

"Yes…although I think we should stop at home first, you're kind of messy."

At this point the boy finally noticed his state and quickly agreed with his sister. It took them less than ten minutes to rush home and less than one hour before they were driven to the hospital, curtesy of their grandfather. Once there they announced themselves to one the nurses manning the front desk, who quickly pointed them towards a nearby police officer. Walking over to the officer the see him quickly notice them approaching and stands up to greet them.

"Hello, I'm officer Kururugi, I take it that you're the witnesses that I was told to expect?"

The two youth's grandfather took the initiative to respond.

"Hai, my name is Ichirou Kusanagi and it was my grandchildren that found the boy, though my grandson was the one who first noticed him."

The officer nodded and turned towards the young man.

"I see, thank you for coming here so quickly, what is your name young man?"

"Godou, Godou Kusanagi."

 **AN: And that's the end of the chapter mwuahaha. Anyways most of this chapter was the result of the first scene popping into my head as I was listening to music watching the snow fall (Cleveland is weird). I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I appreciate all the favs/follows and reviews that I've gotten already.**

 **Ren**


	3. Chapter 3

It's been two weeks since Godou and his sister found the man and talked to the police. He still hasn't woken up and the police have no leads on who he was or what happened to him. Their best guess for why he doesn't seem to exist is that he's been a captive of some criminal element and just escaped. Judging by the number of blade wounds he had Godou believed it to be a near thing.

No one has come forward claiming to know him so he's officially become a ward of the state until he either wakes up or someone claims him. Shizuka had, had nightmares for a few days after that day but thanks to her brother's and grandpa's efforts she was able to cope with what she saw. However, once she got over them she asked about his status and when I told him he apparently didn't have any family she all but demanded we visit him every day.

Godou didn't mind, in fact he would probably have taken the initiate to visit himself at some point as he felt sympathy for the teen who appeared to be near his age. He wanted to talk to him and help him deal with what happened but that leads back to the original detail, he still hasn't woken up.

If Godou thought about it he wasn't very surprised after he had learned just how badly injured, he was. The doctors had, had to operate him for twenty hours straight and it was nothing short of a miracle that he survived. Apparently his heart and lungs had been damaged, curtesy of the wound Godou had first noticed, in addition to a large number of broken bones, head trauma, organ damage and blood loss. By rights he should have died long before I found him but he had somehow grabbed life with a death grip and refused to let go. It also helped that he had near superhuman levels of regeneration, something the doctors still don't know the cause of.

Still, the operation was successful and while it was unsure how well he would heal they were optimistic at his chances of recovery. They would be extremely doubtful of his chances to regain full range of movement with his body if not for his aforementioned recovery rate. While it seemed to be gradually slowing down and weakening it has helped him recover a lot better than anticipated.

The only curiosity is the reason for his apparent coma, something the doctors were sure had nothing to do with his injuries. Godou mulled over the information as he came up with more possible explanations for both his injuries and coma, something he had taken to doing while he watched over his sister. Shizuka had taken to talking to the strange youth about her days during the visits as she believed it would help him wake up quicker. Her brother wasn't so sure but since it didn't hurt and frankly didn't matter he just watched on she recapped her visit with her friends.

It was currently their break from school before their new year started and his sister had spent it with her friends as she did every year. Godou was happy that she had such good friends but it was a bit tiresome to hear her talk about them all the time, especially when it was the 2nd or 3rd time he's heard the tale.

It was just as his sister took a breath to continue telling them how they had met this funny afro guy at the mall who had apparently been a mime (something that greatly confused him) that the man started to stir. This naturally caught both their attention and Godou wasted no time calling for both a doctor and the police officer in charge of the case. Seeing the doctor franticly rush to the room while the officer walked at a much more sedate pace he went back inside the room. The first thing he noticed was the boy was now completely awake, although he apparently wasn't trying to sit up. The second thing he noticed was the boy's eyes…they were completely dead.

Not the kind of dead that people who were controlling/suppressing their emotions but the kind of dead that a corpse might have. There was absolutely nothing shown in either his blank gaze or impassive face. He didn't look surprised to be in the hospital or even alive, nor did he look panicked at waking up somewhere unknown. He simply looked empty.

Godou was shaken from his appraisal as the doctor hustled in and started going over and checking his physical state. Despite all the poking and prodding he continued to lie there, silent and unmoving…empty, and it both scared him and made him sad. The officer had entered the room sometime in the middle of the checks and quietly observed him. Although judging from the subtle tightening of his brow and knuckles Godou realized he must have made similar observations about the teen.

It was only when the doctor tried, and failed, to get his patient to describe how he was feeling that the officer acted.

He cleared his throat before saying "Doctor, I know you want to make sure your patient is completely fine but the sooner I can ask my questions the sooner we can possibly find out what happened to him. And the sooner we can make the pay."

The last sentence was said so quietly that Godou half believed he imagined it. The doctor looked a bit put out but he did nothing more than give a curt nod before backing away from his patient and leaving the room. The officer gave a shallow nod of thanks before turning his attention back on the youth, who had continued to state impassively into space, giving no reaction that he had noticed anything happen.

"Now, I know you just woke up so I'll try to keep my questions brief. First off what is your name? and do you know who did this to you?"

As soon as the words left the officers mouth the first sign of life in the boy appeared, and it was painful to see. His facial expression didn't change but his eyes…they filled with an amount of agony and sorrow that it made the occupants of the room catch their breath. It also caused Shizuka to start crying softly and reach for her brother's hand in search for comfort.

The boy didn't speak for a few minutes and the officer was about to repeat his questions before the he finally got a response.

"Ichigo." He whispered, the name was laced with so much pain, guilt, sadness and self-loathing it was like he hated it with every fiber of his being.

The officer swallowed dryly as he processed the maelstrom of emotion before he responded with a halfhearted attempt to lighten the mode, something he knew was bound to fail.

"Strawberry huh? Got a last name?"

If this was the Ichigo of the past, he would have immediately felt aggrieved at the common misconception of his name and responded angrily. Now however he did nothing, willingly letting the misconception stand as he no longer felt anything but guilt and loathing of the real meaning of his name.

"No." was his quiet answer and it was true…he no longer had any family and certainly didn't want to use his last name…It was just one more reminder of his pain and failure.

The officer frowned lightly, lips pressed into a tight line, at the answer. He sounded sincere but there was pain in that response, something he'd have to look into.

"Do you know who did this to you?"

Ichigo just lied there silently for a minute before he answered with another quiet "No."

As much as it hurt even thinking about his friends in family, let alone his last memories of them, he couldn't get them in trouble. Although a rather large portion of himself did wish to hurt them but it was at war with his past feelings. All of this combined with the agony of knowing what had been stolen from him couldn't be brought back and the hatred he felt for them not being able to fight it. His emotions were in turmoil and the conflict was tearing at his mind but he continued to wear a blank expression as he stared into space.

The police officer obviously didn't completely buy it but he didn't press him and knowing it was unlikely that he would get more out of him. He just sighed and said he'd come back at a later date when he was feeling better. Something that Ichigo would have scoffed at if he wasn't currently tearing himself apart from the inside.

It was at this point that Shizuka gave a tentative greeting making her presence known, which drew his attention to her for the first time and it hurt. She was about the same age as his sisters and despite having no real similarities to them reminded him of them. And the agony that the reminder brought drowned out the rest of his conflicting emotions as his body started to shake. He was on the verge of a breakdown and quickly started hyper-ventilating,

Godou seeing this grabbed his sister and made to exit giving a few parting words before leaving the room.

"We were the ones that found you, and will probably come visit you again sometime. Get better soon, and for what it's worth I'm sorry for whatever happened to you."

Godou wasn't particularly proud of his words as they sounded awkward and strained but he wanted to at least get them out of the way. Unfortunately, his words were the last straw for Ichigo and he finally broke. Godou and his sister left with the noise of a man crying in anguish trailing at their feet. He quickened his pace, dragging his sister along with him, as the doctor and a few nurses starting rushing towards Ichigo's room.

 **-Later that night-**

Ichigo stared out through his window at the moon, drawing a miniscule amount of comfort from its light. He absent-mindedly held his substitute badge tighter, although in anger or for comfort not even he knew. According to the doctors they needed two nurses to pry it out of his hand before they operated on him.

Ichigo hadn't tried activating his Fullbring yet, for a few reasons but the most important was that he wasn't sure he wanted to. He had nothing left to fight for, nothing left to protect…and his badge was just a painful reminder of why. So he continued to hold it tightly as he stared at the moon, his mind no longer in agony, he simply felt empty.

After his breakdown, which he didn't know how long it lasted, the doctors told him about his injuries. Apparently he was going to have a lot of scars, the mostly notable being the one from his father's last attack. The memory the thought brought up once more filling his mind with despair as he subconsciously brought his other hand up to lightly touch the wound.

They had also said it was possible he'd have trouble moving in the future, something that would have been a certainty if not for his apparently freakish regeneration rate. Although that had been slowing down every day, growing weaker and weaker, something that he didn't know what to make of.

His mind turned towards thoughts of his visitors, who according to the doctors have been visiting almost every day since he was brought here. If the girl didn't remind him of his sisters and their visits bring back memories of why he had no one else come, he would have appreciated it. As it was the thought of them, and their past and future visits, did was bring him more pain.

Currently he was contemplating whether or not he even wanted to keep living. He had nothing and no one left to live for after all. He knew he shouldn't think like that but the pain he was in easily overpowered that part of his brain. He would have sought advice from someone but he had no one he trusted to turn to. Even his spirits were nowhere to be found, something while not too surprising only left him feeling very alone and vulnerable.

He had tried attempting Jinzen with his badge, since he thought that his Shinigami powers (or what was left of them) had merged with it and thus would be similar to a Zanpakutō. Apparently that was not that case, that or he no longer had them. The thought caused even more pain to run through his mind as he believed it to be possible. After all his friends and family had abandoned him, so it only made since that they would as well.

So Ichigo continued to sit there, staring at the moon as he contemplated his future and whether he even wanted to live through it. All the while tears continued to fall down his face, unnoticed, as his body quietly reacted to the pain his very soul was feeling.

 **AN: And that's the end of the chapter. There's probably not going to be any action the next chapter either so I hope you don't mind all the emotional stuff. No promises that the feel train will ever stop though. Anyways thanks so much for the positive reviews you've given me, motivated me to get this chapter out today. Thanks for reading.**

 **-Ren**


	4. Chapter 4

It has been three weeks since Ichigo first woke up and he was finally allowed to leave the hospital. Since he had no complications with his injuries all that was needed was time for a complete recovery. The police officer in charge of his case had visited a few more times in order to try to get more out of him but it didn't work so he gave up and the case died. His two saviors also visited frequently during this time though those visits were awkward for everyone but Ichigo, who was mostly indifferent to them.

Ichigo's mental state had made no signs of change or recovery during this time, despite his doctor's best attempts. He still contemplated dying in the depths of his mind and constantly pondered over why he hesitated. Of course there was a bit of fear when he thought of dying but that had more to do with his fears of becoming a hollow than anything else. No, the real reason was guilt. Guilt over what his mother, who had given her life for him, would say about his thoughts of suicide.

It was a near thing though and even thoughts of his mother wouldn't have been enough to stop him for so long if not supported by something. His substitute badge hadn't left his hand once throughout this time period, not even during sleep and it was the reason he the decision to live continued to win by a thin margin. Whenever he was about to completely give in to his thoughts and end himself he'd feel a comforting sensation from it. It was nowhere near the level of feeling he received from his Zanpakutō in the past but it was enough.

Ichigo didn't know what it meant as it the feeling didn't seem to be the same as when Zangetsu had done it. Indeed, he still believed his spirits had abandoned him as well as he still couldn't make contact with either of them. Still, while it had managed to keep him from fully giving up he was still in constant pain and turmoil. He'd tried thinking of the happy memories of his friends and family but all that did was made the pain he felt worse as it just made him remember how much he truly lost. The only thing left he had untainted by Tsukishima were the memories of his mother, blurry as they may be.

At least he was used to the pain those memories brought him, and it was nowhere near the same level as what he currently felt. So he spent his days burying himself in one type of pain to save himself from another, all the while his soul continued to cry out in pure agony, as he continued to retreat further and further from his new reality.

Ichigo was never truly alone in his room however, apparently the doctors here were good at their job and recognized a suicidal patient when they saw one, so except for that first night all his tears remained internal. They had tried to help him of course, even bringing in a phycologist or two, but he never spoke, why would he? Words could never fully convey all that he lost and felt, and even if they could they wouldn't believe him.

The one thing that could bring about even a slight change in his mood was Shizuka and her brother Godou. His feelings of the two were complicated at best, and downright contradictory at worst. Shizuka reminded him so much of his sister's that every time he saw her he felt his heart bleed anew. However, she was an innocent and kind girl who was a stranger and thus untainted by Tsukishima's power.

If not for the agony the very idea brought him he would have started seeing her almost as another litter sister. The thought filled him with guilt, anger, and loathing as it felt like a betrayal of his sister's memories while another part of his mind took a vindictive pleasure in the idea. Every time she showed up his heart and mind where in turmoil but he never let it show. He just patiently listened to her talk about her day and answered the few questions she asked as truthfully as possible.

She must have gotten a talk from her brother or grandfather (she told him about their parents) about what not to ask him, something he was grateful for, so the questions were fairly mundane. The very thing she had asked him in fact was if his hair color was natural and what I did to get it so long and pretty. He had been slightly surprised when he first woke up about the state of his hair but his apathy quickly crushed that so he had a ready explanation. Apparently it was a good one as she looked both happy and excited when she heard it.

Her brother, Godou, on the other hand mostly kept quiet during the visits, and when he did talk it was with his sister, only rarely talking to Ichigo directly. Apparently he could sense his desire to mostly be left alone, although his interactions with his sister hurt him to watch. Still he seemed like a good enough guy though a bit dense and a total playboy (according to his sister). While even their trips had made little to no progress and helping him 'feel better' they did better than the doctors.

Now though he was more conflicted by the two than normal. Apparently their grandfather had offered, and been accepted, as his potential guardian, that is if he wished. Ichigo found it odd that they hadn't been able to track down his family, it's not that hard to find school and medical records after all. Still he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth as it were, he no desire to ever see them again, he didn't think he could take it.

That left still left the question of whether he should accept or not however. Shizuka, and surprisingly Godou, were happy with the idea and wished he would accept but he still wasn't sure. After all, he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep going before he finally gave in to his despair and it wouldn't be fair to them if he accepted and died not long after. On the other hand, he didn't have any other options, he could try to find someone else but that would leave him with the same problem.

He did like both of them, and their grandfather as well though he only met the man twice, and knew they were good people. Hell Godou had cancelled a trip to Italy just so he could continue visiting me with his sister.

Sighing Ichigo turned to face the hopeful looking Shizuka and asked "Why?"

She looked puzzled and asked "why what?"

"Why do you want me to live with you guy? Why have you continued to visit me all this time!? Why do you care!?" Ichigo could barely get the last question out around his breaking voice, the amount of emotion he was feeling vaguely surprising even himself.

Shizuka looked startled and even a bit hurt before her brother put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Seeming to draw strength from the simple gesture she displayed a serious expression one wouldn't expect from such a young girl before responding.

"Because you need someone to care, because you're hurt and need help to get better, because despite how much our presence seems to hurt you, you have yet to turn us away when we visit. You're a good person and what you need most right now is a family."

Ichigo was stunned by the words she had spoken, not quite believing they came from a 12-year-old girl. She was right, he knew, but he still couldn't bring himself to accept the offer. He felt guilt and shame from even contemplating an offer to essentially replace his family, despite the fact that he no longer existed to them beyond the level of their most hated enemy. But looking at her hopeful and Godou's calm and understanding eyes he couldn't bring himself to deny them either.

It was at this point that Shizuka surprised him by running up to him and giving him a tight hug. It surprised him and made Ichigo uncomfortable as this was the first physical contact he's had with another person, aside from medical treatments, that he's had since before Tsukishima. But the warmth emanating from the young girl and her soft "please" as she clung to him was too much. For the first time since he had first woken up he cried, from the depths of his heart and soul he cried, and she continued to hold him.

He managed to choke out a garbled "OK" during his break down before he exhausted himself and fell asleep. While he was still tortured by nightmares this time there was a small bit of light in his mind, no more than a spark, but that's all that's sometimes required.

 **2 Months Later**

Ichigo had ended up moving in with the Kusanagi siblings' grandfather, who they had recently started living with as well do to the situation with their parents. He still hadn't told them his last name, so in order to enroll him in school they had ended up giving them theirs. Ichigo Kusanagi, it felt strange to him while at the same time not feeling entirely foreign. Ichigo still wasn't certain if he wanted to keep living but he no longer thought about it as often. He still didn't express much in the way of emotions but when he was with Shizuka there was a very faint trace of warmth in his eyes, especially after she started thinking of him as her second Onii-chan.

The first time she called him that hurt him deeply, and he withdrew even further into himself for the next few days afterwards. That stopped when he found her crying to Godou in her room one day, saying that I hated her. He just couldn't help himself at that point and came in to comfort her, giving the second hug (and the first that he initiated) since he woke up. From that point on he never distanced himself from her even when she called him Onii-chan, despite the pain he felt when she did so, and started growing closer. He still hadn't smiled once, and he wasn't sure if he ever could again, but he had gotten, not warmer but, less cold.

He had finished healing these past two months and while he didn't lose any range of motion his body was incredibly stiff. It wouldn't impact him in day to day life, besides making him tired and comfortable once the day ended, but he wouldn't be able to competitively play sports again.

That didn't particularly bother him to much as he was never one for sports but it did make things a bit annoying. If he wasn't so apathetic to most things now a-days it might have impacted his ability to beat up thugs mocking his hair, which he had kept long for no reason beyond apathy, but as it was he just didn't care enough to bother. That said he was apparently more popular at school then he had been before, apparently his hair combined with impassive face made him look both 'cool' and 'hot', at least amongst the female population. The guys, bar Godou and a few other acquaintances, either disliked him for his popularity or 'girly' looks and pretentious attitude.

If he was able to feel humor he would have laughed at the fact that he had become another Byakuya, minus the scarf. All in all, though the days have been dull and he continued to survive each day but not truly live.

The only time he felt something beyond emptiness, bar his interactions with Shizuka, was when he finally figured out why they hadn't been able to find his last name and family. He just simply did not exist. At first he thought it had to do with Tsukishima's power, something that made him boil with anger and grief at the same time, but upon further research and observations he found the real reason.

He never would have fully believed it, even with his research, if not for one last little detail. He hadn't seen a single Hollow or Plus since he had woken up, which shouldn't be possible considering he had gotten his powers back to a certain degree. This combined with all the different oddities he had found when he was looking through the history of Earth finally let him accept the impossible conclusion. He was no longer in the same world, and if he was correct it was an Earth where Shinigami, Hollows and Souls didn't exist.

Despite his rather brash and impulsive fighting style Ichigo was not a stupid person. While not on the same level as Uryū or Urahara he was actually quite intelligent, as evident by his class rankings (something which most people forgot about). So he knew about the multiverse theory even if just a general summary of it. The only thing he didn't know is how he had managed to enter an alternate reality.

He figured that it had to do with how he had passed out after entering the Garganta, it wasn't called the Void between worlds for nothing after all, but he still didn't know how. Although truthfully he wasn't sure he even cared, it's not like it really mattered as even if he found out exactly how it happened did it matter? He had no desire to go back to his reality, beyond maybe a desire to die and be buried next to his mother, so he just stopped thinking about it.

On the plus side he no longer had to fear running into the perversions that his friends and family had become nor did he have to deal with the threat of Hollows. So his days passed by quiet and empty, still plagued by his emotions but longer as prone to suicidal thoughts.

Today was Friday and school had ended a while ago but due to Ichigo not joining any clubs he was already back home. Godou was on the baseball team and had a match today while Shizuka had decided to hang out with her friends while watching. They had invited him to come of course but he had declined.

Currently he was sitting on the porch idly playing with his Substitute badge as he gazed out into the city. Before coming to this world he had never been to Tokyo before and he still never got tired of the view. It reminded him of his inner world and thus brought a small sense of comfort whenever he did so. He still hadn't tried activating his Fullbring yet, he had, had no need to and doing so served no purpose other than to bring back painful memories.

It was as he was idly flipping it over in his hands that he heard an explosion in the distance, startling him out of his contemplation. He was only startled by the sound at first, until he realized the direction it had come from and saw smoke rising in the distance.

"The school? …Shizuka! Godou!"

He didn't hesitate to take off running towards the school, not even stopping to put on shoes. He found himself nearly going into a panic attack as he ran, praying that nothing happened to them. Ichigo had gotten over halfway to the school before it felt it, power. It definitely wasn't Reiastu and was also nothing he had every felt before, but one thing was for sure, whatever was releasing it was strong. Even stronger than a Shinigami Captain, and that worried him.

He was about to redouble his efforts before another explosion happened, this time much stronger and causing him to stumble. Ichigo was more worried than ever and pushed himself to his limits as he caught himself and continued to run, forgetting the substitute badge he still clung to in his hands.

 **AN: And that's the chapter. A bit more build-up this chapter but I promise that next chapter will have even more feels and some action. For those of you wondering, Godou is not a Campione at this point due to his run in with Ichigo. As for pairings it will be a harem but I won't say who it's for, who's in it or when it will happen. All I will say is that romance won't really happen for a while. Anyways thanks for reading, if you like the story fav/follow or review the feedback is good for my ego :P**

 **-Ren**


	5. Chapter 5

_Italics_ will indicate thoughts.

 **Chapter 4**

Godou still wasn't sure what to think about his newest, brother? Housemate? Friend? Guess it's a bit obvious to not know his thoughts on him when he didn't even know _what_ to call him. It's not that he regrets about asking his grandfather to become Ichigo's guardian, nor does he have doubts about his character.

Godou just simply didn't know how to classify or think of him. His expression hasn't changed once since that day he accepted their offer, at least if it has no one was there for it. It's like nothing matters to him and couldn't care less if the world burned with him still on it. In fact, Godou hard started suspecting that he might even embrace such a fate, something that bothered him.

Despite all that however he was kind and caring, he always helped Shizuka with her school work (something he was grateful for since he wasn't a very good teacher). He helped his fellow classmates and looked out for his kōhai, he even helps our elderly neighbors with small chores without asking. And yet…

Godou sighed. He knew what the problem was, and why he found it so hard to place him. Ichigo didn't live, he simply went through the motions of living while putting as much distance between himself and others as possible. The only exception appeared to be Shizuka who he had grown closer to, albeit fairly slowly (though she already thought of him as another older brother).

Strangely enough the thought didn't bother him, though he had been a bit irritated with him after the first time she addressed him as such. Though that quickly faded both because he resolved the situation fairly quickly and because Godou know why he reacted the way he did.

Godou knew that Ichigo was lying about not having a family, and he was pretty sure his grandfather did as well. At first it was just a suspicion that he had during their visits, mostly the brief flicker of pain he showed when the topic was brought up the few times the police officer was there. Suspicion turned into belief after Ichigo had moved in with them.

Ichigo had been even more withdrawn and quiet for the first couple of weeks then he was now, and that's saying something. He hadn't decided to join any clubs or sports, nor did he appear to have a hobby. He just attended school then came back home and watched the skyline until he went to bed.

Normally Godou wouldn't have known he did so as he usually got back home late due to baseball practice and thus had believed he did something else before dinner. One day however practice had been ended early due to someone receiving and injury so he ended up getting home no more than an hour after Ichigo.

If he had known about Ichigo's preferred activity, he would have avoided searching for him when he got home. As it was he had managed to find him in the midst of talking to himself without being noticed. Godou wasn't sure if he even realized he was speaking out loud or not but his words were what cemented his belief that he had a family. Although the emphasis was on had.

He was apparently questioning why he bothered to keep living, something that greatly startled Godou, before berating himself about the thought. Apparently Ichigo's family situation was nowhere close to the definition of happy. His mother had given her life in order to save his and would be heartbroken that he was even thinking of suicide. At the same time however, his friends and family had all abandoned him, Godou even got the impression that they were the reason for his injuries, and thus he didn't know what to live for.

Godou had quickly left the scene after that revelation, bile roiling in the back of his throat. He never told anyone what he heard, knowing it would do nothing but hurt Ichigo, but he did drop a hint with his grandfather to watch out for him when he was alone. The request made him raise an eyebrow but he had apparently understood his meaning and simply nodded in acquiescence.

Godou didn't like constantly thinking about Ichigo and his circumstances but he just couldn't help it and ended up doing so whenever he had free time. Unfortunately for him, baseball is not the best sport to play if you want to avoid idle periods. This brings him back to his current situation, the first baseball game of their season.

There wasn't much doubt about them winning, their opponents were a low ranking team last year, but it still had a large turnout from the students. His sister was watching with her friends, though they seemed to be more into their conversation than their game, but he didn't mind. They both had asked Ichigo to attend but he had declined and they didn't push him.

It was currently their turn at bat and Godou had already done so (and made it home) so he was currently sitting on the bench, bored. Now Godou loved baseball, it was his favorite sport, but when the game was this easy he didn't get as much enjoyment out of it, especially when his team was batting. He just wished for the game to be over so he could go home and sleep.

Fate unfortunately, is kind of a bitch and thus while he got his wish it wasn't the way he thought.

The world caught fire, that's all that Godou could describe the scene in front of him. The sky had suddenly turned red and a burning hole appeared right about them. Naturally he was, along with the rest of those present, stunned, becoming speechless and immobilized from the sight. They were only shaken out of their stupor when something was launched out of the hole aimed right towards them.

Of course the burning object was too fast for any of them to get out of the way and when it crashed into the ground near the pitch and exploded all the players there were instantly vaporized. Godou would have been become rooted in place by the deaths he had just witnessed if the shockwave hadn't knocked him into the dugout wall, rendering him momentarily dazed.

Most of the students shared similar fates, only with those on the bleaches either getting knocked off or smashed into the structures. A few of the unlucky ones got hit by pieces of burning grass and soil that had been launched by the explosion, killing the lucky ones instantly. A large number of 'shrapnel' had hit the school building and a fire was quickly spreading.

Those few lucky, or unlucky, people who had either retained consciousness or were quickly waking up were treated to a scene out of hell. For Godou however he was treated to something far more unbelievable. He saw a tall figure standing where the center of the explosion happened, looking liked he been carved out of rock. The figure had a pair of wings that seemed similar to a raptor's, though they were extremely damaged, and had its (his?) torso wrapped in sturdy chains. And he was tall, easily over 3 meters, but that while he was initially stunned by its appearance it quickly turned into fear.

The, thing? person? Was giving off some sort of pressure that was nearly suffocating him, and that pressure burned. He quickly shook himself out of his stupor when he took in the scene around him and remembered that his sister had been here. Ignoring his unsteady legs, he quickly took off towards the direction he remembered his sister sitting in, all under the impassive gaze of the figure.

Luckily he quickly found his sister and she did appear to have any injuries, though she was unconscious. He breathed a sigh of relief and was preparing to take her away from the burning landscape when the figure finally spoke.

"Are you done now mortal? If so I would like to finish my business with you, I don't relish the thought of staying in this place any longer than I have to."

The voice sounded like crumbling rocks and burning flames, causing Godou to shudder before he turned to face the figure, Shizuka still in his arms.

"What…What are you? And kind of business could you have with me?"

"You are not worthy enough to know, all you need to know is that you have something of mine and I would like it back before I have to started burning off your limbs."

Godou gulped and despite the heat of the ever growing flames broke out into a cold sweat.

"I'm pretty sure I don't have anything of yours, I've never even met you before."

The figure snorted, and the nearby flames seemed to increase in intensity in response.

"Do you take me for a fool mortal, I would not have chosen to descend here if I did not feel the call my fragment. I know you have it, the traces while faint cling to your body."

"I don't- "

"Enough, either you return what is mine or I burn you to ashes and look for it myself."

Godou's mind was racing as he tried to figure out just what the man wanted from him.

 _I've never met him before so why would I have something of his? I doubt it's anything common, so my stuff couldn't be it. Was it something I found? Possible but unlikely, I don't pick up suspicious things. Wait, something suspicious? What do I have that could fit that bill._

Godou was shaken out of his thoughts when the man spoke again.

"Seeing as you have just remained standing there I'm going to take it as you wishing for me to end your life so I guess I'll grant your wish."

Godou's thoughts increased in speed as he tried desperately to figure out the object his line of thoughts had faintly recalled. Just as the man was about to finish raising his arm, most likely for an attack of some sort, his thoughts clicked.

"Wait! I know what you're looking for, just give me a bit of time and I'll get it for you!"

The figure paused his movement.

"You have tested my patience already mortal so I'll only give you 2 minutes to return here with it before I decide to just kill you."

Godou released a breath he hadn't known he was holding and he was about to run off when the figure stopped him.

"Oh, and just so you don't decide to not return you will leave the smaller one here until you return, and if you don't she will burn in your place."

Godou unconsciously tightened his hold on his sister, unwilling to leave her in this things presence, but he didn't have a choice. He placed her gently onto the ground before quickly rushing off to the locker room, where he had stored his backpack and school clothes for during the game.

The only thing Godou had thought would possibly be what the figure wanted was the strange book his grandfather had given him. Originally he was going to return it to his grandfather's friend in Italy but Godou ended up not going due to Ichigo's appearance. Thankfully he had never taken it out of his backpack due to shear laziness (his school backpack doubled as his travel one) so it was nearby. Another bonus was that the locker room wasn't on fire…yet.

Thankfully it was also located relatively close to the baseball field and it took him less than a minute at full sprint to reach. Bursting through the door he didn't waste time in opening up his bag and decided to just run back with the whole thing. The trip back was even faster than the trip there as his adrenaline had kicked in at this point.

He made it back with seconds to spare, and while it was rather poorly thought out threw that backpack at the man. Thankfully he didn't seem to mind as he had apparently feel into some sort of trance as soon as he noticed his bag. As Godou ran towards his sister, intent on grabbing her and running (the rest of the students had already left in a rush leaving the few dead and unconscious lying on the ground), his backpack, which had reached the figure burst into flames burning everything but the mysterious book inside.

Just as he was about to reach his sister, the man grabbed the book and suddenly Godou could no longer move or even breath. On contact both the man and the book burst into a blinding white flame and the pressure Godou had been feeling started to skyrocket. It didn't last long and the figure quickly appeared before him again, although he had grown another meter tall and was now wreathed in flames.

"I must thank you mortal, you have saved me a bit of time and tedious effort. However, the fact that you had hesitated in delivering it to me, let alone the sin of even touching a part of me deserves punishment. I won't kill you but you must be made to suffer in order to pay the price. Just like I helped man and was punished for eternity so to have you helped me and will suffer for the rest of your life because of it."

Action quickly followed words and the figure was soon armed with a lance of fire, not aimed at Godou but at his sister instead. He didn't know where he found the strength to move but before Godou even thought about moving his body was already action. He managed to launch himself in front of his sister by the time the figure had thrown his spear of fire, thus taking the hit meant for her.

The last thing Godou saw before darkness hit was the horrified face of his newly awoken sister and she watched in helplessness as her brother was consumed by flames.

Ichigo had just reached the school when he felt the pressure he had been running through suddenly start to skyrocket. Worried he increased his speed even further, unconsciously drawing power from his Fullbring in order to do so. He made it to the baseball diamond just in time to see Godou disappear in a pillar of fire from the figure whose pressure he felt.

Ichigo grew cold at the sight, instantly frozen by the guilt and pain he was currently feeling at the death of the teen he was slowly coming to see as a brother.

"A pity, the fool would have lived if he had obediently lied there like he was supposed to in the presence of a god. Though I am mildly impressed by the fact that he was able to move at all. Still it is for not as I have already said I'd kill you, girl and even though he managed to save you the first time your death is inevitable."

The man's words instantly shook Ichigo out of his mental turmoil as he finally registered the figure of a hysterical Shizuka. She had been burned quite badly from the flames, despite Godou blocking most of them, but she didn't seem to notice as she cried out for the brother she no longer had. Then the words the man, no…monster, had spoken finally registered in his mind and Ichigo felt anger, the likes of which could only compare to what he felt for Tsukishima, and let lose a roar filled with hate and pain. His substitute badge feeling his pain and anger, but more than that his desire to save Shizuka, responded to him and swiftly enveloped him in its power.

The man, who had been preparing to burn the small girl to ashes, was startled out of his motion by the cry and the sudden feeling of power coming from behind him. Turning to face this new pest, he didn't think of it as a threat since its power while stronger than any mortal didn't reach the level of even a weak God let alone him, he was surprised by what he saw. The man was covered in a black and white body suit and had what appeared to be the bottom part of some kind of skull mask forming on the bottom of his face. He also held a plain black katana with a skull for the guard that screamed darkness and hunger to his senses, something he was a bit wary of.

While the sheer hatred the boy's eyes held, and now that he had looked closely he had realized that he was still a boy like the one he had killed, was a bit surprising it wasn't anything new to him. There had been plenty of mortals that he had seen with similar eyes over the ages, and while it was rare to see them in one so young it wasn't the first.

While the figure was taking in Ichigo's appearance he had increased his speed to the maximum using **Bringer Light** to rush to Shizuka's side. He would have preferred not to move her without medical personnel as it would likely agitate her burns, which were pretty bad, but now wasn't the time to hesitate.

The man seemed to be surprised at his speed and his brief delay was enough for Ichigo to grab Shizuka and take her out of the school. He didn't go far as he was still going to fight the man but he did go far enough for her to be safe during the fight. Shizuka had ignored the burns on her arms and had fiercely grabbed onto him while she sobbed uncontrollably. He had to gently pry her off him before he rushed back to kill the bastard who had killed Godou, the only words he spoke was simple "I'm sorry", and before Shizuka could react he was gone.

Ichigo felt guilty for leaving her there alone, hell he felt guilty about a lot of things at the moment, but all of that was overshadowed by the shear amount of hate he felt for the man who had made her suffer to hesitate because of it. He reappeared on the baseball field, the man still standing in the same place although he was staring at Ichigo now with faint amusement.

"I'm surprised you came back boy; I would have assumed you would have run with the girl in order to save your pathetic lives. Still as a reward for bravery, as foolish as it may be, I shall grant you the privilege of knowing my named. You shall feel honored mortal for you shall be turned to dust by the mighty Prometheus!"

"Shut up."

Ichigo said it quietly but Prometheus was still able to hear him.

"I don't care who you are, I'm still…GOING TO KILL YOU!"

All but roaring those last words Ichigo launched himself at Prometheus, who merely let lose a tired sigh before lashing out at Ichigo with a wave of fire. Ichigo responded in kind by launching out his Fullbring's version of a Getsuga Tenshō, unlike his previous time though this one had a faint black tint to it. The attacks cancelled each other out in a large explosion, blocking the two combatants vision with dust.

Ichigo didn't stop his charge however and quickly burst through the dust cloud, swinging his sword at the stunned god's ribs. Prometheus didn't have time to react before he was hit, too stunned by the fact that a mortal had cancelled out his attacked, halfhearted as it might have been. The blade sliced easily though the thick chains and quickly cut into his sides only stopping after it hit his spine.

There was a brief lull in the fight at that point as they starred into each other's eyes, one pair full of hatred the other astonishment, while the dust blew around them.

"What's your name boy?"

Ichigo just exerted more force into his arms as he tried to cut Prometheus in half. His actions caused the god to sigh before he raised his right arm and simply smacked Ichigo into the now fully aflame school building. The hit was incredibly brutal and combined with the impact against the wall caused him to cough up blood. He quickly got back up, though a bit shakily, and stared though the new hole in the wall at the god he was fighting.

Prometheus for his part just stared at him with a slightly disappoint look as the wound in his side, along with the cut chains, rapidly healed in front of Ichigo's eyes.

"Mortals, always so impulsive. Your kind would have long died out if not for my intervention, the least you could do to repay me is give me your name."

Ichigo just stared at him coldly as he got back into a combat stance, disappointing the bringer of fire.

"Very well then, I wish you peace in the afterlife boy for your efforts while valiant will ultimately end in failure."

With those words the god disappeared in a burst of speed before appearing in front of an unprepared Ichigo, his massive fist baring down on him like a boulder. The blow blasted him down to the bottom floor, causing each floor of he passed through to crumble and the entire building to shake.

If not for the increased sturdiness of his Fullbring, caused by his hollow though he did not know it, all the bones in his body would have snapped. As it was most of them were cracked and his organs were bruised. Ichigo barely had time to gasp in a smoke filled breath before the god was before him again, this time giving him a casual kick in the side, flinging him back out of the building and finally finishing off the building causing it to collapse.

This time some of Ichigo's bones did break, including all of his left side's ribs and his life arm. Thankfully his left leg was still mostly intact, though it was riddled with even more cracks now. The blow had launched him towards and then through the nearby gymnasium. He had managed to steady himself after using his sword to bleed of his remaining momentum just in time to watch the main class building, which had collapsed, become engulfed in a fire unlike any he had seen before.

The fire, which originated from Prometheus, was a blinding mix of yellow and blood red and easily burned the rubble into nothingness. Ichigo stood there panting as he forced himself to quit leaning on his sword and ready it for combat.

Prometheus walked calmly out of the rubble, his unearthly flames swirling around him like a cloak, completely unfazed by the building falling on top of him. Although to be far he was hardly able to be buried in rubble thanks to his height. Prometheus just continued to walk calmly towards Ichigo with a passive expression on his face.

"You have surprised me once again boy, you actually survived two of my hits using 80% of my strength. While impressive it doesn't change the outcome of this fight, though as a gift for your performance I shall use the might of the original flame to kill you."

Ichigo didn't bother responding as he tightened his grip on his sword and increased his awareness to the maximum, which managed to save his life. He wasn't able to even see the movement Prometheus made to condense the spear of fire, let alone the attack itself. But he was able to 'feel' it and reacted purely on instinct. He dodged it by a hairs breath and countered with a barrage of Getsugas and his Fullbring's unique attack (the one that looks like his bankai's hilt).

Prometheus while stunned once more by the boy that continued to struggle against him simply sighed at the futile display.

"Enough boy, you've struggled enough. Just accept you fate."

With a wave of his hand Prometheus conjured a wave of the original fire that easily engulfed Ichigo's attack before continuing on towards him. The attack was too fast and too large for Ichigo to dodge and he was quickly engulfed in the wave of fire.

What surprised Prometheus though was the fact Ichigo's body was still intact. He was clearly no longer breathing and was burnt to a crisp but the original flame should have left nothing of the mortal behind.

"You impressed me one last time mortal, nothing should have been left of you after being consumed by the fire. Your efforts have impressed me so I will honor your achievements by not burning your remains to ash. Now I must find that girl I said I'd kill, while tedious I am a being who abides by his words."

Ichigo found himself in a familiar situation. He felt that he was sinking a great distance and could no longer feel anything. It was a situation he had been in once before during his fight with Ulquiorra and much like that time he could still 'hear' what was happening around him.

Prometheus' words caused the same effect that Orihime's had at that time and stirred in him the singular desire to 'protect'. And deep within him something answered his desperate call.

Unlike the time with Ulquiorra though this power wasn't essentially free. This time the power came from burning his own soul to feed it. He only had enough power for one attack and one attack only before he burned his soul away, but it was enough.

He stood up, and the partial mask on face grew into a full one complete with horns and black markings down the eyes. The mask wasn't white though, it was blood red and seemed to have drawn the color from its wearer's very flesh.

Prometheus had noticed the abrupt movement of the 'corpse' right as he turned to leave and yet again he was surprised by this mortal boy. He had changed, he had become more powerful and now had his face covered by a mask, but Prometheus could tell he was barely alive. Still it was commendable and in order to honor this miracle he decided to use his strongest power to finish him for good.

The god, for the first time, unfolded his mangled wings and flew up into the sky. Looking down at Ichigo he created a dense orb of original flame in his hand before speaking.

"You have surprised me once again boy, your tenacity is the stuff of legends and I commend you for it. But here is where our fight ends. In honor of your achievements I will use my strongest power to kill you."

With that said he threw the ball of flames with all his strength down at the immobile Ichigo. Ichigo had remained completely still up to this point, as if he didn't know what was happening. However, as soon as the attack from Prometheus was thrown Ichigo moved. He angled his horns towards the flying Prometheus and charged a Cero in between his horns. This wasn't a normal cero though, he had squeezed out all of the power in his body and soul into it and it reflected the change.

It was a Cero Oscuras and when he fired it, Ichigo roared. The beam was massive and easily smashed throw the ball of fire before rushing up to Prometheus. The god's last words before he was vaporized the technique was the cry of "Impossible!".

Energy spent and god slayed, Ichigo's mask shattered and his Fullbring released as he collapsed onto the ground, unmoving.

 **AN: Much longer chapter than usual this time but I really wanted to wrap everything up this chapter. I enjoyed writing it so I hope you enjoyed reading it. Thanks for reading and thanks for all the support for the story.**

 **-Ren**


	6. Chapter 6

A girl stared down at the boy resting in her lap as she slowly ran her hand through his hair.

"You have suffered so much, losing all that you have cared for and I don't know what to do with you. On one hand the rules I set are quite clear and due to your actions you should be reborn anew. On the other I can feel a strong desire to die from you and I don't know if it would be a crueler fate to let you live than to die."

She was torn, her conflicting thoughts about her newest child making her freeze with indecision. She wanted a sign, even just a tiny one, to help her decide which path to choose. So she sat there, quietly, as her new son continued to rest fitfully in her lap.

Ichigo was dead and his soul was fading yet he still stubbornly clung to his existence unconsciously despite feeling peace from that faint promise of oblivion. His memories had started to degrade due to the damaged nature of his soul and as they faded he relived them one by one before they faded leaving him with only a faint impression of the emotions they brought.

Sometimes it was happiness, sometimes it was pain, but most of the memories were of mundane, normal things that weren't very important. Some of the memories were important though and despite not knowing why whenever they started to fade he clung desperately to them. In the end it was futile but he was left with more impressions from these than others. A glimpse at two newborn babies that brought him happiness, a flash of orange hair and a smile that made his heart flutter, a woman crying out his name before blood spatters into the air.

The good and the bad, those memories that defined him were what he desperately clung to as they started to fade, yet ultimately he was left confused as to his actions when they inevitably did.

Then came the memory that broke the man known as Ichigo Kurosaki and left him a shell of what he once was. This was the one memory he actually tried to forget, but his efforts were in vain. It had affected him too much and left a scar too deep for it to completely disappear. So when it was gone he was still left with fragments of that night and all the pain it brought him. It was at this point that his subconscious grip on existence loosened slightly and he started to fade away even faster than before.

He had few memories that were worth keeping after that point so he didn't even try. However, then he recalled a memory of a little girl calling him her brother with a smile on her face. He clung to that memory and like a drowning man in a storm caught in a death grip, becoming the first memory to remain intact. It wasn't enough and thus he continued to fade away, though the process had slowed somewhat once again.

Then he got to his most recent memories. The death of the girl's brother, his brother. The haunted look on the girls face as she watched him sacrifice his life to save hers. The anger at the being who had taken his life and the fury when he set his sights on the girl. The guilt of not getting there in time, of failing his family once again. Dying. The singular goal of protecting the girl even if it cost him everything, and then blackness.

Ichigo had succeeded and he knew that he had protected the girl, his job was done and now all he wanted to do was fade away.

" **That's it partner? You're just going to leave her alone?"**

 _She doesn't need me; she probably hates me for not saving her brother or dying in his place._

" **Even if that's true she's already lost her brother; you think she can take losing you as well? Her grandfather is old and might not live much longer, and we already know that her parents don't care."**

 _Do we? I can't seem to remember. She's a strong girl she'll be able to recover; besides she'll have her friends there with her._

" **The same friends who became nothing more than burnt corpses?"**

An image flashes through Ichigo's mind, one of a burning field with broken and charred corpses all around them.

 _It doesn't matter, she can make new friends._

" **Che, you asshole. Do you not even care about people anymore?"**

 _I've lost the ability to care, all I want to do is die now instead of living an empty life._

" **Bullshit, if you didn't care you wouldn't have been able to use my power. You wouldn't have sacrificed everything to save her."**

Ichigo remained silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the statement.

" **Come on King, don't be such a bastard. What would your sisters think? Your friends? Your mother…."**

Ichigo was about to respond that they didn't until the voice's last words caused the words to die in his mouth. Ichigo knew the voice was right and was feeling slightly ashamed but he still didn't want to go back, it just hurt too much and he had so little left to care for.

Sensing an opening the voice went in for the kill.

" **She didn't die for your sake just for you to give up on living you idiot! Also is the girl truly safe? Can you guarantee that you have truly saved her? She was badly injured when you left her King, and it didn't look like anyone was around to help her."**

 _I…_

" **ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO TAKE THE CHANCE THAT SHE MIGHT DIE!?"**

 _I…no…but…_

" **Also can you be sure that another one of those things won't attack her again? It happened once it could happen again and it doesn't seem like any of the humans in this world can deal with them if even we are dying after stopping him."**

Ichigo's desire to die was ruthlessly getting crushed by the voice's words. A growing resentment was building in him as he knew the voice was winning the argument and keeping him from his death. But more than that a growing resolve to 'protect' was forming within him.

" **Your mother gave you your name Ichigo, are you really going to let her down? Are you really going to refuse to protect one thing? Are you really going to disappoint your mother by failing to protect your sister? Will you really choose to fail your family again when you have the ability to do otherwise?"**

Those words were what decided Ichigo's path. As painful as it maybe, as cruel as it may seem those words succeeded in resolving Ichigo to live. He'd endure unimaginable pain, crawl through the very depths of hell itself, face unsurmountable odds with a smile on his face if it meant avoiding the agony of failing his family again. And so, from the depths of his fading soul Ichigo roared with all his might the singular word 'LIVE!'

The girl holding Ichigo noticed the change's occurring in Ichigo and she felt the singular will to live screaming from every fiber of being she smiled. It was a small smile, one tinged with joy but tainted by sadness. She knew his entire life, the agony he has endured, ever since he appeared before her, so she knew too how much he truly wished to die. Yet he hadn't chosen that path, which made her happy but at the same time the pain he'd feel everyday made her heart ache.

"Very well then, I feel your resolve my strange new son from oh so far away and will grant you request. So have you chosen, so too will I decide. I, Pandora, the witch who brings disaster while stubbornly clinging to hope, do formally declare this child to be my son."

A dull rumbling sound could be heard from the distance at those words.

"Cry out your blessings, spit out your curses, let your feelings for this child be known. The 7th Campione, he who is destined to suffer for the sake of others, he who truly embodies the will of a Devil King, please let the sacred spell words be bestowed upon him."

Her words finished, the sound echoing into the vast expanse of emptiness, she calmly turned her gaze back down to her newest son, soothingly stroking his hair to cacophony of hate filled cries coming from all sides.

"Rage all you want but my decision can't be changed. Ichigo Kusanagi, formerly known as Kurosaki, I grant my blessing to you who has become the new god-slaying king. I, Pandora, declare that you shall be reborn as a Campione. The god-slayer, the king of kings, the Campione!"

With that said the world slowly started to fade as Pandora, new mother of the 7th Campione, continued to soothingly run her fingers through Ichigo's hair.

Shizuka was struggling to breathe as she continued to cry out in grief and pain. Her brother was dead. He had died right in front of her eyes…because of her. The image of him jumping out in front of her and becoming engulfed in flames continued to play inside of her mind. She wasn't sure what had happened, why did he have to die?

It was just another normal day and she had just wanted to watcher her brother play baseball with her friends. Then the sky started burning, the field exploded and she knew no more. When she had woken up it was to see a strange man, impossibly tall, standing in the middle of the burning hell that had become their school. Her body hurt and when she briefly struggled to get up she felt a large amount of pain coming from her back and neck so she quickly stopped her motions. She had just started looking around when she saw her brother running towards her after throwing his backpack at the figure.

She was confused by what was happening, but since her brother was coming to get her she felt a small amount of comfort. He might have been a no good playboy lady-killer in her eyes but he was also dependable and she knew her brother would help her. Then there was an explosion of white light blinding her and somehow making it a struggle just to breathe.

When her vision cleared the figure had changed and she was scared. Then it spoke and she was terrified. It was going to kill her; it was going to kill her just to make her brother suffer. She didn't understand, she was afraid…she wanted her brother. And then her brother was there and her fear lessened, only to be replaced with horror as she watched him disappear in a pillar of fire.

She was hit by a few of the flames as well, giving her some terrible burns, but she didn't feel the pain. She was in too much shock. The thing was going to kill her still but she made no attempts to save herself. It didn't matter, her brother had died for nothing, she was going to join him anyways so why bother struggling in vain.

Then Ichigo showed up, he looked strange and felt different, but it was him. When he picked her up she clung to him desperately, like he was the only lifeline she had in the vast ocean. He had saved her, brought her away from the thing that killed her brother, and the relief was too much to handle. She broke down and started sobbing uncontrollably into Ichigo's chest, seemingly in attempt to bury herself in the comforting embrace of the teen who had become another brother to her.

She refused to let go, she needed him to comfort her, she just hurt too much. But then, he pried her off of him and placed her onto the ground. She desperately reached out towards him in an attempt to once more cling to him for comfort. He had turned back towards the school and disappeared from her eyes, leaving her alone there with his quiet apology fading into the background.

She cried even harder after that. He had left her; he had abandoned her here alone. He had gone back to that thing to get himself killed and she hated him for it. She heard the explosions coming from the school more than saw them as her eyes were blurry from the tears. Then they stopped, and she knew her new brother was dead, just like Godou, and she felt empty.

Then she saw through her blurry eyes a large figure fly into the sky and a bright light appeared to be coming from him. At that point she knew she was going to die this time, and accepted it. She stopped crying as she awaited her fate. Then the sky was ripped apart by a black and red light that enveloped the flying figure.

She was confused, was it dead? Did he decide to leave? But then she stopped questioning what happened, it didn't matter. Even if it was dead she was still alone now. She was too empty to cry so she just continued to sit there staring blankly in the direction of the school where she had lost both her brothers.

She didn't know how long she sat there, but it didn't matter. Whether it was 1 minute or 1 hour she was still alone, no one had come to help her and neither of her brothers had come back. Then she felt someone wrap her in a hug from behind, it was warm…and familiar.

She wanted to turn around to see who it was, she needed to, but her body wouldn't respond. She recognized the feeling of that hug, despite only feeling it once before it was planted firmly in her memories. But she didn't dare check though for fear it was merely her imagination and confirming it would make her wake up from her dream. Then he spoke.

"I'm sorry Shizuka, your Onii-chan won't leave you alone again."

With those words Shizuka started crying once more and she leaned back into the warm hug of her brother. While they were still mostly tears of loss and pain they were also filled with a small bit of relief.

Ichigo just continued to hold her close as he silently joined her in her grief. He had woken up in the field where he had fallen with all his injuries healed. More than healed though his body was stronger than he had ever felt before, much stronger. While his soul form had been stronger that was because of his immense Reiatsu and had nothing to do with his physical attributes.

He only had a vague recollection of what happened after he had died, just an impression of losing himself and of talking with something. When he woke up he still retained all his memories, both good and bad, though he had an extreme need to protect Shizuka and had quickly rushed off to find her.

His Fullbring had lost the mask fragment that it had before, but with his mysterious increase in physical ability his speed was at least twice as fast as before and he quickly reached her side. Her dull, blank stare had hurt him to see and without even thinking about it he wrapped her in a hug. He didn't know why he chose the words he had when he had apologized to her, but they had felt right and when she started crying he had joined her in her grief. The tears were from the pain of seeing Godou die, the guilt of failing to save him and the built up emotions he still felt when thinking about the night before he fell into this world.

So they continued to sit there, drawing comfort and support from each other as they cried out their emotions.

 **AN: That's the end of the chapter, hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Thanks for reading,**

 **-Ren**


	7. Chapter 7

Ichigo didn't know how long they stayed like that, quietly crying as they drew support from one another. If he thought about it logically it wasn't the best time to do such a thing. Shizuka was pretty badly injured and the fire seemed to be spreading in their direction so he really should have taken her to a hospital. But he didn't, despite the bad location and her injuries it just felt like the right time.

Still all things must end and this was no different. Ichigo didn't release his hold of Shizuka, instead he merely shifted it so he was gently carrying her before standing up. Shizuka just clung tighter to him as she continued to cry as Ichigo proceeded to walk calmly away, long hair flying around him as the fire raged in the background.

He had walked for about a minute before he finally noticed the odd atmosphere and it took a moment before he managed to find the source. There were no people. He had of course noted it when he dropped Shizuka off but he didn't really pay much attention to it at the time and it had slipped from his eyes in the interim.

While he didn't expect there to be a large number of people so close to the fire there should have been some. There were no well-meaning citizens, no gawkers, no worried family members and most telling of all no emergency workers. As he continued to get further away from the fire there was still no sign of people and Ichigo become increasingly on alert, subconsciously tightening his grip on Shizuka.

When he finally did notice people running towards him it didn't reduce his cautiousness, it increased it.

 _Who are these people? If they were emergency services wouldn't they come in vehicles? Even dismissing that wouldn't they have shown up long ago?_

Ichigo hadn't released his Fullbring yet so all he did was change his grip on Shizuka to free up a hand and draw his sword. He had stopped moving at this point and coldly watched the people approach, body tense and ready to act at any moment.

As the figures drew closer he finally was able to make out their appearances. They were all unfamiliar to him and wore uniform black suits, except for one. This girl was familiar to him, the apparent number 1 beauty of Jounan Academy, Yuri Mariya. She was in his class but he hadn't interacted with her much, she was fairly shy and as such never took the initiate to talk to him and he had, had no desire to do so either.

Still he did now a little bit about her. She was apparently a shrine maiden in the nearby temple and as result of it taking up most of her time wasn't part of any school clubs. He wasn't surprised by the fact that she wasn't at school at the time of the attack, but he was surprised by her showing up here. Her outfit, a traditional shrine maiden uniform, as surprising as it was didn't have as much of an effect as a result.

While he wasn't sure why she was here, with a group of uniformed thugs no less, he did slightly un-tense his body at the sight of her. He didn't completely relax as though he had a good impression of her he still didn't know her well enough not to categorize her as a threat at this time.

By the time the figures came within talking distance to him Shizuka had stopped crying and had turned his puffy eyes in their direction. She didn't recognize any of them and would have normally been cautious anyways but feeling how Ichigo had tensed at their appearance she was looking at them with a warry expression on her face.

The common thugs had arrived first but had maintained their silence, apparently waiting for Yuri to show up if he had to guess. What was odd though was that they were very careful to appear both non-threatening and courteous with him. Not something surprising considering he was holding a sword but the level was more than what he would have expected from this kind of group.

Yuri had shown up by the time he finished the observations of her guards? Subordinates? Whatever they were called, they were clearly differential toward her. In fact, Ichigo thought they would have bowed to her if not for his presence.

"Campione-sama." She greeted him with a formal bow.

Ichigo was almost more surprised by the term of address than by the formal bow.

"Mariya-san? Why are you bowing to me? What are you doing here? And what's a Campione?"

Apparently she was expecting his questions, though the last one slightly surprised her before she quickly adopted a respectful expression.

"Campione-sama, I'm bowing because that's what one naturally does when someone of lower rank meets a King. As for my appearance it here it is both to meet you and to deal with the damage. Do you really not know what a Campione is? I have already seen you kill the Heretic God so you should know what that is, all the others knew when they were born."

"Please stopped calling me that, call me by my name and quit bowing it's not my thing. So you know what that thing was then? What did you mean by that you saw me kill it? And no I really don't can you please explain it to me."

If it was Ichigo of the past, he would have been yelling at her by now in frustration. Now however, he merely responded to her in the same monotone he uses to talk to everyone asides from Shizuka as he stared at her impassively.

Yuri was apparently a bit unsettled by his impassive state but responded to him without pause anyways.

"I'll be happy to answer all your questions Kusanagi-sama but if I may be so bold, can I request that you give my subordinates leave to carry out their tasks?"

Ichigo had a brief flicker of confusion appear on his face before it faded and he give her a curt nod. He was a bit confused by the apparent need to have him give the OK for her subordinates to do their jobs but didn't let it show after brief flicker.

Yuri sighed with relief before nodding at the men that had been loitering around her during their brief conversation. They all give him a quick bow, something that surprised him again, before continuing to run in the direction of the fire.

"Kusanagi-sama, while I would be glad to answer all your questions, this hardly seems like the best place to do so for someone of your position. If you would please follow me, we have a vehicle nearby that will drive us to the place that can answer all your questions. During the trip I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have but you would receive better ones from my superiors."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her words, not quite feeling very reassured about the prospect of going in a car with a near stranger to some shadowing group he still hasn't heard the name of. He didn't flat out reject them however, as he felt the need to get answers mostly so he could prepare for any future scenarios that could endanger Shizuka.

"I'll go with you, but my sister is very injured and needs treatment first so either you take me to the hospital or I'll go by myself."

Yuri hurriedly replied "Kusanagi-sama, we would of course take you to the hospital to treat your sister if you desire. However, my groups ability to heal her injuries is much higher than any hospital nearby. If you come with us I guarantee that she will be treated to the best of our abilities, our headquarters isn't much farther than the nearest hospital as well."

"Very well, I'll trust you this once, but if you have lied to me I'll burn your entire organization to the ground. Also stop calling me by my last name it bothers me, call me Ichigo."

His statement apparently unnerved her as she barely managed to stutter out a "Hai, Ichigo-sama" before quickly leading him in the direction of their transportation. It didn't take long, no more than a 3-minute run, although by the end of it Yuri was struggling to breathe (though she made no sign of discontent at the grueling pace).

The car was a new black limo with tinted windows, which caused a raised eyebrow from him and a dumbstruck expression on Shizuka's face. Shizuka had remained quiet for their entire exchange and subsequent run, too confused and emotionally unstable to process the new information quickly.

They quickly entered the limo and as soon as they were seated it sped off, though to where he wasn't sure. While the insides of the vehicle were comfortable the atmosphere inside the car was extremely tense and Yuri seemed to be feeling it quite acutely. Ichigo was intentionally maintaining the tense air, he was simply trying to organize his thoughts.

"Mariya-san." The sudden sound caused Yuri to jump in surprise. "I guess the first question I have is what exactly is a Campione, followed by what that thing I killed was. He said his name was Prometheus and claimed he was a god, and I know my mythology well enough to recognize the name."

While she seemed a bit relieved by the break in the tense atmosphere she was still sounded nervous when she answered him.

"The best way to explain a Campione is to you would be for you to hear the ancient verse. A Campione – a Godslayer – is a supreme ruler. Since he can kill a celestial being, he can therefore call on the sacrosanct, divine powers wielded by the gods. A Campione – a Godslayer – is a lord. Since the power to kill a deity is in his hands, he therefore looms over all mortals on Earth. A Campione – a Godslayer – is a devil. Since of all mortals who live in the world, none can assume a power to match his!"

The words caused a stir in Ichigo, liked they just felt right and correct, and he fell into an introspective silence before Yuri continued to answer his questions.

"The being that you killed was indeed the Prometheus from the legends, he was a Heretic god. A being that no mortal could hope to match, that humans have no choice but to fear their presence and obey their whims…and you killed him. To kill a god is supposed to be impossible, but when a mortal is able to make the impossible possible that is when a Campione is born, those that kill the un-killable and loom high above humanity and gods alike."

Her explanation finished quiet once more filled the car as Ichigo thought about her words and what was said and what wasn't. The most obvious thing not said directly was that he wasn't the only Campione that exists or has existed. The most obvious she did say was that he had killed a God, an actual God, and thus implied that other gods existed by default.

Ichigo wasn't a fool, he knew he only managed to kill Prometheus do to him underestimating him the entire time. Even his last attack was obviously not his full power, though it was his finishing move even if it was not at full strength. If not for the fact and he had burned his entire being in order to give him enough power to kill him, with the full knowledge that he'd die as a result, it wouldn't have happened.

There were quite a few other revelations he had to think about but those were the most prominent as he continued to sit quietly for the remainder of the car ride. Yuri seemed to once more be uncomfortable in the silence and was fidgeting, though she made sure not to make any noise to disturb him, not that he would notice even if she did. Shizuka had been shocked by what she had heard but didn't have much energy to think about it at the time. In fact, if not for Ichigo making sure to keep her awake (he was worried about her head injury) she would have fallen asleep.

So after a rather awkward car ride, that lasted another twenty minutes, they finally reached their destination. Apparently they had driven to the surrounding hillside around Tokyo where Yuri's organization apparently had a large traditional compound for their headquarters. Despite the traditional layout and style Ichigo was able to tell all the buildings were new and well maintained. Yuri had at some point when he wasn't looking called ahead to tell them of their arrival, as evident by both the group of rather important looking people and a nearby medical team with a stretcher.

Ichigo was reluctant to hand over Shizuka without following her, and she was too by evident by her the hands that stubbornly clung to his jacket (he had released his Fullbring during the car trip) but he did so. He knew he needed to talk to these people and he didn't want Shizuka to wait for treatment while he talked to a bunch of sketchy old people.

He did however, threaten them with bodily harm should they do anything not suspicious or beneficial to her health. The threat coupled with his cold and flat delivery caused the doctors to visibly shake as they stuttered out a response and took her away. Shizuka would have struggled more but she still couldn't move her legs and was quite tired besides that so all she could do is state at Ichigo reluctantly as she was wheeled away.

Separating from her hurt Ichigo, he hadn't quite realized how much he currently depended on her continued presence to not break down. Godou's death, while it did hit him hard just by itself, as caused a resurgence of the pain he had been surprising for a long time. This caused him to struggle to maintain his composure as he turned to face the group that no doubt wished something from him.

The apparent leader of the group, a plain looking gray haired old man, stepped forward slightly before giving Ichigo a courteous bow, which was mimicked by his three colleagues.

"Campione-sama, it is an honor for you to grace us with your presence."

Ichigo just sighed before replying. "Please don't be so formal, it's a bit irritating to me, call me Ichigo. Now I have a few questions that I want answered the most important being who you people are and what you want from me."

The man straightened after Ichigo spoke and responded quickly but without sounding rushed.

"My name is Gendo Sayanomiya, my colleagues are Shinji Seishuuin, Maya Kuhoutsuka, and Tomatsu Renjou in order. We are the four family heads of the History Compilation Committee, whose goal is to serve and advise the emperor on all matters magical and supernatural while at the same time hiding our world from the ordinary citizens. The reason why we have asked to speak to you Ichigo-sama is that we desire both to know your attentions for Japan as the newest Campione and beg for your aid in protecting our country from the threat of the gods."

Ichigo just stood there, a bit too stunned to immediately reply. He needed time to wrap his head around the idea of magic and the supernatural, though admittedly that wasn't too hard for him since he had been a Shinigami and it's hard to get more supernatural than that in his opinion. He mulled over his response once he had accepted what they said before giving his reply.

"I don't have any plans regarding Japan, all I want to do is protect my sister. As for protecting the rest of the country and helping you I don't currently have a response for that and one will have to wait while I think about it more. Now if you don't mind I need to make sure Shizuka is OK, I don't want to make her wait."

The last part was only half the truth. While it was true he didn't want her to worry about him he also needed to see her again before as he was close to a breakdown. Despite his calm though process and steady voice his emotions were currently in turmoil. The idea of protecting another person besides Shizuka, let alone the whole country, filled him with a lot of conflicting feelings.

On one hand he had an almost instinctual desire to agree, on the other he was no longer the person he once was. He was broken now and could no longer bring himself to truly care about strangers now. Even if this new world had Hollows like his old one he wasn't sure he'd bother killing it if it didn't attack him or his new family first. He also knew that accepting such a responsibility would likely make him enemies and Shizuka would become a target as a result. So his instincts and emotions/mind were at war with each other and he needed time to think.

He barely noticed the four family heads give him a polite bow as one of the nearby servants lead him in the direction of his sister, without him having to ask. He was still trying to center himself when he reached the room his sister was being treated in. Opening the door what he saw caused his hard fought control to slip, and tears started falling down his face as he rushed to Shizuka's side.

He wasn't sure what exactly happened but the completely defeated look in her eyes was enough to break his already shattered heart. He barely heard the doctor explain what was wrong as he wrapped Shizuka in a tight hug as she started crying into his chest once more. Apparently her injuries where worse than either of them had thought and the reason why she couldn't move/feel her legs was that she no longer possessed the ability to do so. Her spine had been damaged and she was now a paraplegic and nothing they could do would fix it.

Both Ichigo and Shizuka had known that it wasn't a good sign that she could neither feel nor move her love body but had put it out of their minds. They were already in a lot of pain and had no desire to think about what that could mean and thus clung to the belief that she would be fine once she got to a doctor. To make matters worse that burns along her arms and face would leave permanent scars and make it hard for her to move them properly once she's healed.

Hearing their worst fear confirmed was too much for them and the second time that day they clung desperately to each other as they cried out their pain and suffering, eventually exhausting themselves to the point that the fell unconscious while their tears continued to fall.

 **AN: Surprise double chapter today. I just really wanted to get this chapter written as the inspiration for a few of the scenes hit me suddenly as I was reading. Hope you enjoyed the longer than usual chapter and thanks for reading.**

 **-Ren**


	8. Chapter 8

Ichigo dreamed of fire and flames, of a god stealing fire to give it to man. He dreamed of that gods hope for the future of mortals, of how that hope turned into loathing as he suffered for millennia for his actions. But most of all he dreamt of his savage desire to be free to take revenge on mortals and gods alike.

It was a strange dream in that it felt more like brief glimpses of memories than anything. Another strange thing was that Ichigo had maintained awareness throughout his 'dream' and as the memories continued to play he learned more about the god he killed. More than that though he learned how to wield the power he had taken from him, how to use his authority.

When that word appeared into his mind Ichigo was jolted awake. Apparently no one had, had enough courage to move him to a more comfortable position so he was still kneeling on the ground next to Shizuka's bed, said girl still tightly held in his arms. Someone had been either kind or brave enough to drape a blanket over him however, so while he was sore he at least wasn't cold.

Staring at his sister brought a bitter feeling to his heart as he was reminded why he had cried himself to sleep in such an uncomfortable position. It just wasn't fair, hadn't he suffered enough, hadn't she suffered enough? Why did she have to lose her ability to walk the same day she lost her brother?

Hatred of the world slowly rose from the depths of his heart. He was so tired of being life's punching bag, what did he do to have tragedy strike him every time he had a bit of happiness. His mother, his family, his friends, his new family, when will it end? Why couldn't life just kill him instead of taking everything he cared for away from him?

His anger dissipated when he noticed Shizuka stir in his arms. He still had her, even if she was injured he'd protect her until he could find a way to heal her even if it cost him his life or turned him into a devil in the world's eyes. Even if he had to kill god himself.

The last thought struck him like lightning. A god would have the power to heal his sister, and he was a Campione now. A Campione was a Godslayer, and if his dream had been correct when he kills a god he gets a part of their power. If that's the case all he needed to do was keep killing gods until he found one that gave him the power to heal her.

Ichigo subconsciously tightened his grip on Shizuka at the thought, something that caused her to let out a small noise of discomfort before turning a questioning gaze toward him. Ichigo quickly relaxed his grip on her and gave her a small smile in reassurance. It was a forced thing, and it was obvious that he had struggled to do so but Shizuka made no mention of it and gave him a small smile in return.

"I'll be back in a bit Shizuka; I have to go take care of some business really quick OK? I promise it won't take long and I'll be back before you know it."

After making his intentions known Ichigo released the hug he had been holding in her and stood up, shaking out his sore limbs in the process. Shizuka didn't verbally respond, she merely gave a small nod before looking at him with pleading eyes, begging him to be quick. Ichigo gave her a light head pat in response before leaving the room in search of a certain group of four.

He had decided to help them out, more so in order to take advantage of their resources then out of a desire to protect the country. Since his goal was to kill a god with the power to heal Shizuka it would be beneficial to make use of an organization that desires him help him kills gods.

It took him a few minutes, and one very nervous servant, before he arrived at his destination. He didn't bother announcing his presence and simply barged into the room. Thankfully it appeared to be a meeting room instead of a bathroom or something else potentially awkward so all that happened was him disrupting an intense conversation. Apparently he had surprised them with his presence and they quickly stopped talking as they turned their gazes towards him.

"Ichigo-sama, what can we help you with? I heard of your sister's diagnoses and you have my heartfelt condolences, I'm sorry that neither our facilities nor magic can heal her. We will spare no resources in a search for a potential cure, and will endeavor to make her as comfortable as possible in the meantime."

Ichigo just stared blankly at the man, who he recognized as Gendo Sayanomiya, he knew while the words were sincere they were also said in attempt to get on his good side. He knew they couldn't help his sister unless they somehow possessed someone with Orihime's power. Ichigo might not be in college yet but he had been planning on going to medical school when he did and combined with growing up in a medical clinic gave him an advanced understanding of medicine even for someone older than him.

So he knew that no medical science, even if this slightly more advanced world, could heal her and if their magic could have done so the doctors would have mentioned it to either him or his sister. So he just treated the words for what they were, an attempt to make them more appealing to his eyes due to their 'kind' deposition.

"Thanks for the kind words, and for treating my sister's injuries but we both know you won't be able to make her walk again. That's not why I'm here though, I've decided that I would help your organization, but I have a few conditions."

His blunt words, delivered in his usual monotone, surprised them slightly but not as much as his decision to work with them. It took Gendo a few moments to center himself before he responded.

"That's great news Ichigo-sama, we humbly thank you for willingness to work with us to protect Japan. Any condition you may have is no problem, we will fulfil whatever it is you require, all you need do is speak your wishes."

"First, you will inform me immediately when a god shows up anywhere in Japan and anywhere else not guarded by another Campione and immediately arrange for some form of transportation for me to arrive there quickly."

The occupants of the room seemed shocked by his apparent knowledge of the existence of other Campione, and that they had their own areas. They all quickly made noises of acceptance however, though they were a bit worried about the part where he showed a desire to deal with gods not in Japan. Of course they didn't speak their fears, you don't deny a King if you want to live after all, but they were still there. If he ended up failing in a hunt he would bring the wrath of that god down on his territory after all.

"Second, you will provide all medical care that my sister, or her grandfather, will require. I don't care if this is done by your staff or for paying for it. All that matters is that if someone happens to them they will be provided with the best care possible."

The request was easy enough and the group had no reason to deny it and quickly agreed, though there were a few raised eyebrows at him saying his sister's grandfather instead of their grandfather.

"Third, you will include me in any decision that involves dealing with supernatural phenomena, magic or gods. I don't care about the small day to day decisions, but anything major like how to respond to or cover up a major incident I want to be a part of."

While his request was a bit strange to them they slowly nodded their heads in acceptance, it wasn't too big of an issue as very few major incidents actually happened. They were curious about his reason for requesting such a thing however.

"Before I state my final demand I just want to clarify my last one, by major decisions I mean both external and internal affairs. That means I want a say in any potential research you may be doing and be privy to any secrets that have the potential to either harm or help me if they become an issue. You don't have to tell me every little dirty secret you may have but if it comes up and is a problem, or if it could help my sister, and you don't inform me there will be consequences."

The four leaders of the Historical Compilation Committee seemed a bit disgruntled by his words they didn't actively voice discontent.

"Very well Ichigo-sama, it shall be as you say and your warning will be taken to heart. Now what is your last demand?" 

"It's rather simple really, I both need and desire a direct line of communication with your organization and easy access to any information you possess on gods, Campiones and other organizations of your kind in the world."

Once again they were surprised by Ichigo's intelligence as he correctly deduced the existence of other magical organizations and the fact that they'd keep detailed files on them, known gods and Campiones as well. Still it was the easiest request he had, and was something they would have done eventually in the first place so once again the quickly agreed.

"Very well, we are willing to accept all your demands and thank you for your willingness to work with us. All we have is one small request and one piece of advice before we move to fulfill them."

Ichigo merely nodded to Gendo's words, an indication that he was willing to at least listen.

"First, our request is that a member of our organization becomes your formal vassal. This would both serve to show you have ties to us and provide you with another line of communication to us if need be."

Ichigo thought about it briefly before making a response. He figured that having vassals was a fairly common thing for Campione, they are called kings after all. There was no real detriment to accepting besides the small annoyance he felt at the idea of having a servant and the likely scenario of having them constantly be near him.

"Very well, I'll accept your request."

"Thank you Ichigo-sama. We had been discussing this before you arrived and had decided that if you had been kind enough to accept you would feel more comfortable with having your vassal be someone you are at least familiar with. Would you object to having Mariya-san be your vassal? As we understand it she is your classmate and you at least have a passing acquaintance with her."

He didn't particularly have feelings on who his vassal would be one way or the other so he merely accepted with a nod.

"Very well, I will inform her of the news. As for the advice, you will likely be approached by members of other magical associations in the near future. In order to maintain a friendly and cooperative relationship between us we have made promises to share any important news of this magnitude so we will be informing them of your existence sooner rather than later. How you deal with them is entirely up to you and we won't object if you create ties with them if you so desire. We apologize if our actions will cause you any inconvenience."

Ichigo merely grunted in response. He didn't particularly care about keeping his identity hidden, he knew that it would eventually be known anyways. There was also a positive in this situation as creating ties with other organizations could be beneficial for his goal.

"Then if that is all, we would like to adjourn to prepare the arrangements for your requests and inform Mariya-san of our decision if that is OK with you Ichigo-sama?"

Ichigo fell quiet. After a brief moment he let out a large sigh before talking once more.

"Just one thing…I need to get into contact with Shizuka's grandfather…he needs to know what happened to his grandchildren."

His comments once more raised a few as it implied, again, that it wasn't his grandfather as well. They had yet to get a full report on his background so it was only natural that they didn't know the reason yet but the figured it would be obvious once they did. Gendo just made a curt motion to a nearby subordinate, who quickly came up to Ichigo and handed him a phone.

Having received the device Ichigo gave the room a polite tilt of the head before leaving, heart heavy as he thought about the upcoming conversation. Ichigo walked for a while until he reached a patio looking out over the mountains towards Tokyo. Feeling sick, but unwillingly to let Ichirou worry anxiously for news on their whereabouts any longer he dialed his home. The phone only rang once before the rather frantic voice picked up.

"Hello, who is this? Have you found information about my grandchildren!?"

"Ichirou-san, this is Ichigo."

"Ichigo! Thank god, I didn't know what happened to you. Are you OK? Do you know where Shizuka and Godou are? Are they fine? I saw the fire at the school and know there's been a lot of people injured or dead. I've been calling nearby hospitals since last night but no one had any information on any of you."

Ichigo choked back a sob as he heard the relief in his voice as realizing he was ok and the desperation his tone still had as he talked about not knowing their whereabouts.

"I'm fine Ichirou-san, I saw the fire too and ran there as quickly as possible. Shizuka is with me but she's…she's badly injured. She'll live but she might never walk again….and Godou…"

Ichigo finally broke down at this point and started crying. When he resumed talking his voice was full of grief and pain as he struggled to speak through his sobbing.

"Godou is dead Ichirou-san, I wasn't able to save him! I was too slow and by the time I got there it was too late! If not for him sacrificing his life even Shizuka would have died!"

All but forcing the words out of his mouth, by the time he finished speaking Ichigo was struggling to breathe properly as his heart broke even further as he listened to Ichirou break down on the other side of the phone.

Ichirou was apparently stronger than him however as even through the incredible amount of grief and pain he was no doubt feeling he was able to recognize Ichigo's volatile mental state. His words were slow, and much like Ichigo spoken through his tears.

"Ichigo…my boy…it's not your fault. You…you did all that you could… and though Godou…Godou died you got Shizuka out of there safely right? She might be injured but she is alive, don't forget that she needs you now. I…I need to go lie down now…call me again in a few hours. I'll wait for you call…. I need to see Shizuka but right now…I…I need to rest. Just promise me that you'll remember that there was nothing more you could do, please don't blame yourself Ichigo."

With that Ichirou hung up the phone, not realizing that his words of comfort didn't have the intended effect.

"That's just it Ichirou-san." Ichigo quietly whispered into the no longer active phone. "I could have done more…"

He continued to sit there, starring out at the skyline of Tokyo as he continued to feel guilty. If he hadn't been so afraid to use his Fullbring, if only he had accepted their offer to watch the game, if only he wasn't so weak. He sat there for hours, and would have likely stayed there longer if he hadn't been interrupted by the sound of a wheelchair being pushed behind him.

Turning to look he saw that it was Shizuka being pushed by, surprisingly, Yuri. She was looking at him with sad but accepting and understanding eyes, like she knew what he was feeling and didn't blame him.

"Ichi-nii."

The simple name caused him to have painful flashbacks of his sisters but it also brought a small amount of warmth.

"Don't blame yourself Ichi-nii, for anything. It's not your fault that Onii-chan…that Onii-chan died. It's also not your fault what happened to me. I don't want you to distance yourself because of the guilt you're feeling. I need you Ichi-nii, it hurts so much. I can't deal with this without you, so please…please don't leave me alone."

Ichigo just stared at her, tears streaking down his face. He had forgotten about her, about his promise to be back quickly. He had been too busy wallowing in his pain to remember that she was hurting just as bad as he was, if not worse. Instead he told himself it was fine, that she didn't need him right now, that she would be fine until her grandfather showed up. He had selfishly decided to keep her distance from her after his call with Ichirou as seeing her would just cause him more pain, forgetting that she was just a hurt little girl in an unfamiliar place.

It was only a brief lapse of judgement but he hadn't even thought about her feelings. She was left alone by the one person she saw as family nearby, after learning she was crippled, to continue to cope with the loss of her brother. Ichigo knew he was better than that, he never would have made such a mistake before but it had happened and now he felt even guiltier.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when he felt small arms wrap around his head, pulling him into a hug. Shizuka had apparently wheeled herself right next to him while he wasn't paying attention. The contact startled him and he instinctively tried to pull away, only for the small arms to tighten around him, refusing to let him go.

Ichigo stopped struggling when he felt that. He sighed deeply before returning the hug, lifting Shizuka out of her wheel chair to sit on his lap in the process.

"I'm sorry Shizuka, I didn't mean to hurt you. I won't leave you alone from now on unless you want me to OK?"

Shizuka just gave a small nod as she started to cry softly. Ichigo soothingly stroked her hair as he turned to face Yuri, who looked both extremely uncomfortable about the situation and sad at the same time.

"Mariya-san, could you people use this phone to call her grandfather. I said I'd call him back in a few hours to tell him where we were so he could come see us but I can't bring myself to do so right now."

"H-Hai, Ichigo-sama. I'll call him and let the organization know he is coming."

With that said she ran off, not wanting to intrude on the private scene any longer.

Ichigo just turned back to face the skyline as he continued to hold onto Shizuka. Providing a much needed comfort for both of them as they waited for Ichirou to arrive.

 **AN: And that's the chapter hope you liked it. For those still wondering yes Godou is dead and no he won't come back. As for Shizuka there is indeed a method to heal her. Also a few plot points were mentioned or hinted at in this chapter (though they were kind of obvious). Anyways thanks for reading.**

 **-Ren**


	9. Chapter 9

It's been a week since Ichigo became a Campione and vowed to find a way to heal Shizuka. Ichirou had arrived no less than fifteen minutes after Yuri had given him their location, his appearance had prompted another round of tears from both Ichigo and Shizuka. He had looked decades older and his grief was prominent on his face, showing just how much the news had affected him.

To his credit though he had been able to keep himself from breaking down after seeing Shizuka's condition. Ichigo wasn't sure how but he respected the man more than ever for it. She made a very depressing image as in addition to the wheelchair all her visible skin had at least some sign of burn scars. Magic might be able to do things that even cutting-edge technology can't but they were dealing with fire created by a Heretic God and despite it being indirectly related it still heavily hampered the effectiveness of their spells.

Ichigo had mostly been indifferent to her appearance as he had mostly been worried by the mental/emotional effects of her experiences than the physical ones. Seeing Ichirou's brief flicker of horror and pain when he first saw her finally made him realize just how bad it really was. They had withdrawn to her room at that point, as none of them desired being out in public for the inevitable emotional rollercoaster they were about to go on.

Ichigo had explained to Ichirou everything leaving nothing out, not magic, gods, his status as a Campione, nothing. He hadn't explained where he had gotten the power to kill the god, as that would delve into his past and he had no desire to tell it to Shizuka at that point. When she had succumbed to her exhaustion and fallen asleep the two males had withdrawn from the room and it was a different story.

He had continued to feel extremely guilty and felt that Ichirou had the right to confess as it were to Ichirou. So he ended telling him everything from his past to his Fullbring to the night when he lost everything. Throughout it all Ichirou just listened patiently, though he had a look of pure horror when he explained about Tsukishima. It was the first time Ichigo had told anyone his entire past before and was definitely the first to know about Tsukishima. While it was the most painful thing he had to do ever, including the time's he had died, it had brought him a small since of comfort. It by no means even started to heal his trauma but it was good for him, though it would be a long time before he ever did it again.

Ichirou's calm acceptance of his story, his sympathy and compassion when he laid bare his feelings and his flat refusal to blame him for what happened to his grandchildren was enough to set him off crying for the last and final time that night. It had been a rather quick session all things considered and by the end of it he had started to view Ichirou as the grandfather he had never had. It was both painful and comforting to have people to consider family again, though it would be a long time before his emotions weren't in turmoil when he thought about it.

They had ended up staying at the Committee's compound for another two days as they had set up a room at Ichirou's home to take care of Shizuka. They had offered to let them stay with them until she was fully recovered or a room in any hospital in the country if they so desired but had been flat out refused by Shizuka. She wanted to go home. She knew it would bring painful memories to mind that would just serve to draw even more attention to her loss, but she also _needed_ to go.

So the committee had organized the transportation of the necessary medical equipment and arranged for a live-in doctor that would be in charge of her recovery. The doctor would stay there until she was fully healed and went through minor rehabilitation unless they desired him to stay longer. Ichigo had wanted him to stay for a long time but Shizuka and Ichirou hadn't so they had compromised and he would stay with them an extra month in addition for the 2-3 it'd take for Shizuka to be as healed as she could be.

The two extra days at the committee had been rather uncomfortable for everyone as they were all wrapped in their own thoughts. They had refused to be separate from each other and but had passed the time in mostly silent companionship after the first night. They (Ichigo and Ichirou) had tried to engage Shizuka in conversation as much as possible (despite their own problems), but while she would respond to them the conversation was quick to die. They had all been happy to finally go back home once things were finally ready, knowing that while it would bring more pain to be there they could only truly start healing once they did.

The next five days had seen a rather somber and quiet atmosphere in the Kusanagi household as they dealt with the reminders of Godou prevalent throughout the home. By silent agreement they had all avoided moving or touching any of Godou's things before leaving each other to mourn separately. They had of course come together fairly often, but it didn't last long as everyone desired to be alone for the time period.

Shizuka had taken to just sitting in Godou's bedroom most of the day, not touching anything or even moving but immersing herself in his lingering presence. Ichirou had set up a small shrine to Godou in the dojo, which he had taken to kneeling in front of him from morning to night, with only the rare breaks to take care of bodily needs interrupting his silent vigil. It was painful for Ichigo to look at their lonely forms as they both grieved. Shizuka looked so lost while Ichirou looked as if the weight of the world was pressing down on him.

He had made sure to look after them during this time period as much as possible while still respecting their desires to be alone. As sad as it was for him to admit Ichigo had quickly acclimated to Godou's loss, too used to being in constant emotional pain for it to register as more than a brief blip before fading into the general background of suffering. In addition to taking care of the Kusanagis he had also been making funeral arrangements for Godou with the help of the Committee. He hadn't set anything in stone, not wanting to take that away from Ichirou unless he wanted, but had taken care of most of the necessary steps.

Ichigo was going to wait another week before brining anything up with Ichirou wanting him to have time to grieve properly before dealing with the unpleasant task. Which brings us back to the present as Ichigo continued to deal with necessary issues that came with Godou's death, mainly informing his friends and family. It was one of the most uncomfortable and painful things he had ever done as he called up one by one friends and family and informed them of his passing.

Currently he was debating whether or not to inform his parents, as while they barely deserved that title they did have the right to know about their child's passing. He was about to just bite the bullet and call them when he heard a knock at the door. Ichigo was curious as to who was visiting but also incredibly nervous. If it was someone he had yet to inform about Godou this was going to be incredibly uncomfortable for him, so he hesitated. He was only spurned into action when there was a second knock on the door and, sighing in defeat, he got up to answer it.

The visitor surprised him but nowhere near how badly what she had with her.

"Mariya-san? What are you doing here, and what's with the luggage?"

Yuri was evidently either extremely nervous, uncomfortable or both as she was blushing when she replied.

"Ichigo-sama, since the Committee decided that I would be your vassal from now on it was decided that I would start living with you in order to more easily perform my duties. I know now is not the best time for your family and my intrusion might not be very welcome but I didn't want to put it off for much longer. I also thought that your family could use someone to help out around the house while you go through this rough period…"

Evidently that was also she was able to get out before her nervousness got the better of her. Ichigo was sure his blank expression hadn't helped much either. He wasn't really sure how to feel about this, if it were before coming to this world he would be blushing up a storm and be completely flustered. As it was he merely felt uncomfortable about the idea of someone, who was little more than a stranger, near him and his (new) family. He had agreed to her becoming his vassal and what she said did make a certain amount of sense.

Sighing heavily, he spoke to the fidgeting girl.

"Fine, you can stay for now but Ichirou-san is going to have to accept as well when he's feeling up to it. In the meantime, I'll take you to the guestroom to drop off your stuff. I've been taking care of most things in the house the past few days so the help will be appreciated. Just…try to give my family as much space as you can."

"Hai, Ichigo-sama. Thank you for your understanding. I have also brought the files on the information you requested."

Ichigo gave a small grunt of acknowledgement before grabbing some of her bags, ignoring her protests in the process. The guest room he was taking her to was actually across from his own as he thought it would be easier to keep an eye on her there. Unfortunately, do to him being wrapped up in his thoughts about the files she had brought him he had failed to notice her blush when he informed her she'd be in the room across from him.

Yuri knew it a possibility that it was only a casual decision and likely didn't have any deep meaning but she was only a young teenager. As a result, her imagination was running wild and it did not help that she had a small crush on him before he became a Campione. It wasn't anything deep as she didn't really know him that well and the crush was mostly a combination of her limited observations and his looks. That being it only compounded the issue when combined with the conversation the two female heads of the History Compilation Committee about her potential duties as a vassal. It didn't help that her mother had added even more to it when she learned about her new assignment and living arrangements.

Taking it all together she was on the verge of fainting by the time they reached her room and in her rush to separate herself from him she had all but slammed the door in his face. Ichigo for his part was a bit confused by her actions. Since he was keeping an eye on her he had noticed her steadily rising blush after he explained her room's location, so she was obviously embarrassed. The problem was Ichigo didn't know what by and truthfully didn't much care, what he did care about was the fact that she had left him without giving him the files.

Sighing to himself he resolved to get them later, figuring it would be a good idea for Yuri to calm down before appearing before her again. Thus decided he went to go check in on Shizuka and Ichirou.

Shizuka, as he had expected, was sitting in Godou's room again. Since most of her burn treatments were done with magic, the machinery only used to check her vitals, she wasn't required to stay in bed all day as long as she didn't do anything strenuous. Not wishing to disturb her he grabbed the nearby blanket and draped it over her shoulders before leaving her in peace. Ichirou was also where he expected, however instead of staying as he was he stood up and faced Ichigo when he arrived.

"Ichigo…thanks for looking after Shizuka and the house during this time."

Ichigo hadn't expected him to be done mourning yet but didn't let his surprise show.

"It was no problem Ichirou-san, she is family too me and the house is my home."

Ichirou just nodded slightly before speaking again.

"I know you've been taking care of the funeral arrangements…thank you and…I'm sorry it wasn't something you should have had to do."

"Again it wasn't a problem Godou…Godou was family to me as well and I know you weren't in any position to do it yourself. I haven't finalized anything but most of the essentials are done, I was just waiting for your input before I finished. There's really only one thing I haven't done yet…I still haven't called Shizuka's parents yet."

Ichirou's eyes tightened ever so slightly at the mention of his son and daughter-in-law. The relationship between them had been strained ever since they had children. He had not approved of them all but abandoning their children while they had married to say nothing of after their divorce. Still they did deserve to know, even if he wasn't sure how much they would actually care.

Sighing he said "I'll take care of that, you more than deserve a break from such a thankless task."

Ichigo gave a small nod before leaving the room to find his usual spot on the porch to relax and mourn for a small period of time. Just because he was used to functioning through high levels of grief didn't mean he could afford to put off emotional breakdowns forever. So Ichigo spent the next couple of hours before dinner staring at the comforting skyline as he mourned over the loss of his brother.

When the time for dinner came Ichigo got up and headed to the kitchen intent on making food for his family. When he got to the kitchen however he noticed someone was already hard at work cooking and then he remembered his new housemate…and then he remembered he forgot to tell both Shizuka and Ichirou.

Unfortunately for him Yuri was a much better cook than he was and as a result the delicious aroma of the food she was preparing drew in his family like moths to the flame. Their shocked faces when they saw Yuri cooking in the kitchen in an apron while she hummed a song to herself was priceless, and the most emotion he's seen on them in the past 5 days. Unfortunately, there subsequent expressions caused Ichigo's normally impassive mask to crack somewhat as a bit of cold sweat trickled down his back.

"Ichi-nii… why is Mariya-san here?"

Ichigo didn't know why but her tone of voice caused him to shudder involuntarily.

"Well…you see…she's going to be living with us from now on…that is if you're OK with it Ichirou-san?"

Ichirou gave him a small smile and a thumbs up before replying.

"Of course Ichigo-kun, I'd never even dream of separating you from your girlfriend. I'm so proud of you my boy."

Evidentially his reply was not to Shizuka's liking judging by the rather dark aura surrounding the small girl.

"Ichi-nii…you playboy scum! I can't believe you've already seduced poor innocent Mariya-san!"

Ichigo just stared blankly at the fuming girl as she continued to rant about him being a womanizing playboy, too surprised to defend himself, while Ichirou just laughed heartily in the background. Thankfully Yuri was too caught up in cooking to hear them or she'd be dying from embarrassment. Still while he was confused, and a little insulted, by his sister's accusations he couldn't help but have a small wry smile on his face at the situation. His new family was still in pain but they were healing and to Ichigo that was all that mattered.

 **AN: Chapter 8 done hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Thanks for reading,**

 **-Ren**


	10. Chapter 10

Ichigo managed to eventually convince Shizuka that he had not in fact 'seduced' Yuri, which he was thankful for as it reminded him too much of how she had interacted with Godou. Unfortunately, she got the impression that it was Yuri who was trying to seduce him instead when he explained that he had no part in her decision to stay with them. In hindsight it was probably not his best decision to mention the fact that she was going to live with them from now on.

Ichirou was surprisingly ok with it and gave his consent to her staying there rather quickly. Shizuka on the other hand started to immediately 'protect' him from the 'hussy'. It was slightly amusing to see Yuri get flustered by all of Shizuka's accusations, which to be fair got rather outlandish towards the end. Still, as amusing as it was it did lead to a rather awkward dinner where Shizuka clung to him protectively while glaring at Yuri in between eating. It only got worse when Ichigo made the mistake of openly completing her cooking, something that caused her to blush and Shizuka's glare to intensify to the point it looked like she was trying to set Yuri on fire.

Ichigo was a bit confused by the reaction as he hadn't said anything suggestive like 'you'd make a good wife' or something equally stupid. He had merely given an honest compliment on her cooking, though now that he thought of it that might be the reason. As far as he could remember he hadn't given a single compliment to anyone beyond Shizuka since he got here. Maybe that fact made the compliment mean more than it should, that or she liked him which he supposed was possible if unlikely.

He didn't dwell on it for long and after his compliment dinner remained silent beyond the normal sounds that occur when eating. Ichigo tried to clean the dishes afterwards but Yuri hadn't let him and rather than pointlessly argue he decided to acquiesce. She was his vassal and had stated that she'd help him take care of the house so it wasn't a surprise and it did end up giving him more free time, which he wouldn't complain about.

After dinner Ichirou had decided to turn in for the night and Shizuka went back to Godou's room, it seemed that while she was better she still wasn't fully recovered. He had offered to take her there and keep her company but she had declined desiring to both be alone and to not feel like more of an invalid. Besides the first days at the Committee compound she hadn't allowed anyone to push her wheelchair for her. He didn't blame her as if he was in her position he'd be the exact same, wanting to retain as much independence as possible despite the disability.

So with nothing else to do he decided to go back to his usual spot, though this time he wasn't planning on watching the skyline. He'd been meaning to check on his Fullbring again ever since the fight but there hadn't been a good time. While he did remember what happened after he defeated Prometheus it was a bit blurry and there was something he needed to check. He remembered all the words he said and knew he was talking to someone or something but whenever he thought of the voice he couldn't remember what it sounded like or even said. He had a suspicion it was one of his spirit's (either Zangetsu's or his hollow's) but wanted to confirm it.

With a thought his Fullbring enveloped him in a shroud of darkness, obscuring him from view. A few moments later the darkness faded leaving Ichigo standing in the clearing, his Fullbring suit now covering his body. Looking over his appearance Ichigo was confused, and slightly worried, by what he saw. Instead of his completed outfit he had after his training, or the one with the partial hollow mask he used to kill Prometheus, his outfit was now closer to what it had been when he first combined it with his Shinigami powers. To him that could only mean one thing, his Fullbring, and by extension himself, was losing or had already lost his Shinigami powers and what he had currently wouldn't be recharged.

If that was the case then what would happen to his spirits, would he never be able to contact them, would they disappear, or were they already gone? At the thought of losing Zangetsu, Ichigo began to hyperventilate. Zangetsu was the only person he could always rely on, who would never leave him or judge him for his actions. If he was gone he'd lose a part of himself, both figuratively and literally, and he was recoiling from the very notion of that idea. He struggled to control his panic as he knew he wouldn't be able to meditate properly while his mind was in turmoil. It took a while but he was eventually able to calm down enough to attempt to meditate and contact his spirit.

Thirty minutes later and still not even a sign Zangetsu was still there, let alone being able to contact him, and Ichigo had to face the truth. Zangetsu was gone, and he had to rely on his own strength from now on. Ichigo spent a few minutes mourning the loss before pushing his grief aside for the moment. Zangetsu would have berated him for even doing that much so dwelling on his loss further would serve no purpose.

Releasing a shaky sigh he got out of his meditative posture, resolving to deal with problems later. Since he couldn't contact Zangetsu his original goal was unobtainable but that didn't mean he should waste his time. While he wouldn't be able to rely on Zangetsu's power anymore, he still had other sources he could use to keep his promise. He still had his Fullbring, though he wasn't sure what would happen once his Shinigami powers finally left it. He also had his improved body and the powers he obtained from killing Prometheus.

If he had to guess his body was about three or four times stronger than it had been before, which by itself is already incredibly useful but when combined with his Fullbring could probably enable him to be around captain class once more, even without his Shinigami powers. Of course these Heretic Gods seem to be stronger than any captain he knows, barring maybe the captain-commander. Ichigo briefly wondered if he could improve his physical capabilities even further but decided to keep that thought for later as he wanted to the power he had apparently stolen from Prometheus.

 **Authorities** , the word was the first thing that came to mind when he thought about this new power. There wasn't any definition or context when it came to mind but there was a…instinct, for lack of a better word, that he could listen if he thought about using it. In addition he got the impression that he had two **Authorities** but only one of them seemed to be…active? awake? He wasn't sure how to describe it beyond one of them seemed to lack the ability to be used at the moment. Something else he resolved himself to think about later, but for now he wanted to test the one he could apparently use.

Focusing on his **Authorities** he let that instinctive feeling take over, and words came pouring out of his mouth like some sort of hypnotic spell.

"I am the Harbinger of Fire. I am he who stole the True Flame and made it mortal. I am the one who burns for eternity but is forever untouched by flame. I am he who provided man strength; I am he who brought man weakness. Let all who stand before me be consumed by flame and chocked by ash."

With those words spoken Ichigo is immediately consumed by a pillar of fire, which thankfully wasn't tall enough to rise above the two story manor as otherwise the neighbors might have saw it and freaked out. Much like when he called for his Fullbring's power the pillar of flame quickly left leaving Ichigo alone in a now much more burnt clearing. Ichigo's Fullbring outfit had now changed, where once it was black with white stripes now it was black with red, with the stripes now flame patterned. In addition he now had rings of pure fire circling his wrists and his original long fiery orange hair now actually appeared to have flames dancing in it intermittently.

If Ichigo was the same as he was in Karakura town he probably would have freaked out about the transformation and provided anyone watching with a quick chuckle. As it was he just stared at his new appearance blankly for a minute before simply accepting it. He felt warmer than before but that was it, the fire on his wrists and hair didn't burn or hurt him and the changes to his Fullbring didn't appear to damage it if the lack of changes to his substitute badge was anything to go by.

Besides the mostly cosmetic changes Ichigo didn't actually feel any different. He know that wasn't all there was to his authority but the instinct that helped him use it was no longer present after letting it run its course and it was now purely up to him to figure out how to use it. He reasoned that he could do something with fire, which is fairly obvious, but he was more curious about how his Fullbring was affected so that was the first thing he tested.

He didn't want to get too destructive so after drawing his sword, which interestingly enough looked the same besides its edge, which looked like it had been in a furnace, he refrained from swinging it around. Almost casually he attempted to use bringer light in order to test his speed in getting to the other side of the courtyard…it didn't end well. His speed was higher than he thought it'd be and ended up crashing into the house face first, breaking the wall in the process. The sound of him breaking the wall was obviously fairly loud and attracted the attention of his family, who a arrived at the clearing in time to see Ichigo frantically trying to stomp out a line of flames on the ground.

Apparently the changes to his Fullbring were more than just cosmetic or a simple increase in speed. For one thing his bringer light was now orange for some reason. For another it leaves a trail of fire in the path he takes, which now that Ichigo thought about it might be the cause of the orange bringer light. These thoughts mostly stayed in the back of his mind as his conscious thoughts were fully occupied with preventing his home from potentially burning to the ground.

His family, and Yuri, for their parts were a bit too surprised by Ichigo's current appearance and, rather comical, attempts to stomp out the fire to do anything but stare at him for a solid couple of minutes. Once they shook themselves out of their stupor Yuri and Ichirou rushed to help him, while Shizuka cackled madly in her wheelchair. If Shizuka's doctor was in the house it was hard to say which group she would have joined as the older woman had an…interesting sense of humor and it was hard to say if she would find the house potentially burning down funny or not. That was a moot point however as she was currently not here, she had been giving the Kusanagi family a lot of space since she first came here by doing the family's shopping (which was where she was currently). As a result it was up to a clumsy high school student, an old man and another high school student (who was partly on fire himself) to deal with the situation themselves.

This meant it was another few minutes before Ichigo realized his mistake and deactivated his authority and a few more minutes before they succeeded in stamping out the remaining flames. Shizuka for her part had been laughing so hard that she was crying while struggling to breathe. While Ichigo was glad to see her laughing he was a bit annoyed at being the subject of her humor, though he let it be. He was just happy that she was recovering faster than he thought and that what happened at dinner wasn't just a one-time deal.

 **AN: And I'm back, finals are a pain in the…sensitive parts. This was a short chapter, mostly to finish off the sort of intermission before returning to the main story but also to introduce one of Ichigo's authorities. How was it by the way, think the aria was ok or a bit too corny or something? Let me know. Next chapter will have a short time skip and have the introduction of a few characters.**

 **Thanks for reading,**

 **Ren**


	11. Chapter 11

It's been about two weeks since Yuri moved in and Ichigo almost burned down the house and they were finally going back to school. They had buried Godou last week and it had been a small, somber affair with just a few friends and family attending. Ichirou had done what he said and called his daughter and son-in-law and while the conversation had went how he had expected he was still disappointed. They had been shocked and sad yes, but the level wasn't anywhere near what it should be for a parent to learn their child had died, they hadn't even cried during Godou's eulogy.

Shizuka, as one would expect, hadn't taken their lackluster response to her brother's death well and got into a screaming match that made one of Kenpachi's battles look tame in comparison. Well, screaming match is a deceptive term as it was only Shizuka doing the screaming while her 'parents' stood there starring at her condescendingly. Apparently they thought she would have 'dealt with her foolish brother's death by now' and that she should 'act more appropriate for a lady' since it was only a 'minor loss'. Ichigo punched both of them in the face when he heard them say that, apparently he forgot to dial his strength back enough as he broke both their jaws.

For the next couple days Shizuka had been in a funk, though she was more willing to seek Ichigo out for comfort this time at least. Ichigo for his part had, when he wasn't spending time with his family, been either experimenting with his powers more or reading the information he had finally received from the Committee. He learned quite a lot doing both and now felt prepared for any future situations that might occur.

For his authority he learned that while he could make/control fire at will the more he did so the weaker he became physically, albeit it was temporary and would be fixed after a day's worth of rest. The fire's strength wouldn't decrease at all, unless he desired, so regardless of how weak he became so that was a plus. Another would be that his physical attributes were high enough that he could maintain semi constant fire for around half an hour before he was about as strong as a ten year old. The downside was that unless he put out the fires he made himself (either by physical means or by controlling them to) he weakened at a faster rate than normal.

Still the fire was incredibly potent and he could control it at will so it made a good weapon, though he still found it difficult to form it into complex shapes at the moment. He hadn't been able to activate his other authority yet, he also didn't even know if he could. According to the information repots on other Campiones there were authorities that had been theorized required special circumstances to activate, or were passive in nature. For the time being he had put it out of his head and just focused on mastering the one he could use. For that reason he was thankful that the Committee had accommodated his request for a training ground.

As for the Committee, they apparently hadn't had an issue/problem that met the criteria set in my demands so I hadn't had much contact beyond the request for a training ground. He hadn't heard anything from the various magical societies of the world yet so he was wondering if he ever would. He had assumed they would as it should be beneficial for them to be associated with a Campione. The few already associate with another of his kind he understood but there were only eight Campiones and a much higher number of magical groups in the world. It kind of annoyed him as he had been planning on using them as an extended information network for those areas unclaimed by others of his kind. With them apparently hesitating to take that next step he had to decide whether he would contact them on his own, ignore them and rely on solely the Committee or make his own group.

In his opinion he was too young to be dealing with this kind of crap so he was hesitant to create his own group. If he only relied on the Committee the information would get to him slower and be more focused on Japan and the nearby areas. If he decided to approach other groups on his own however it would probably offend the Committee and while they wouldn't dare to go back on their agreement they might drag their feet when working to keep their end of the bargain. All in all it was giving Ichigo a headache, which wasn't very conducive for a good learning environment first thing in the morning.

Luckily first period hadn't started yet so he still had hope that it would dissipate before class started. His hopes were crushed however when the bell rung, rather loudly in his opinion, signaled that class was about to start. Yuri, who had decided to start sitting next to him now (something that caused a lot of excited whispers from his classmates) gave him a worried look when he let out a pained groan.

Yuri in the past two weeks had become closer to a friend than the casual acquaintance she was before and once he worked on her shyness a bit more she'd make a good one in his opinion. Ichigo wasn't oblivious to her crush on him; though she seemed hesitant to display any such indications when he was around (he thought it was probably do to his status as a Campione). Apparently both his sister and grandfather had noticed as well and had reacted in different, though predictable, ways. Shizuka had become extremely protective of 'her Onii-chan' and had become quite vocal about Yuri's 'impure intentions' towards him. Ichirou on the other hand had taken to teasing both him and Yuri mercilessly whenever he could. Needless to say the house was even livelier now than even before Godou's death, and to him it was feeling more and more like a true home.

Apparently he had been too wrapped up in his thoughts and hadn't heard the morning announcements; otherwise he'd probably know why the class seemed so excited. He was about to ask Yuri about it when his questions were answered for him. They had a new student, a foreign transfer student no less. She was undoubtedly an archetypical Western Beauty with long blond hair, pale white skin and clear blue eyes, but unlike the rest of his class that wasn't Ichigo noticed first. Instead he noticed the way she carried herself, like a warrior, full of confidence in her ability to fight any challenge head on, and it put Ichigo on edge.

He didn't see her as a threat as he was confident in his ability to deal with her if it became necessary. That wasn't why he was on edge. No he was on edge do to the predatory look in her eyes as she stared at him, it didn't help that she had licked her lips as well. Yuri, obviously, noticed who she was staring at and likely noticed the same thing he did so she was giving the girl a death glare in response. It didn't seem to have any effect, or if it did it was the wrong kind as the girl just gave a mischievous chuckle that he only heard thanks to his new enhanced body.

She finally broke off her gaze after the teacher gave a 'subtle' cough to get her attention.

"Ahem, class, this is our new student from Italy and will be joining us for the rest of the year, would you please introduce yourself?"

The last half of his sentence had obviously been directed to the new girl who, upon hearing the request, moved to stand in front of the class.

"Hello, my name is Erica Blandelli I like the color red and my home country of Italy. The reason I came to this school was to be with my future husband, I hope we get along well."

Her Japanese was extremely good and Ichigo hadn't been able to detect a hint of an accent from her. When he heard her reasons for coming to the school he instantly saw where things were going based on her previous actions and Ichigo did not think his headache was going to get any better today. Besides Yuri, whose thoughts held a similar vein as Ichigo's, the rest of the class was too stunned by the last half of her introduction to notice her next actions.

The newly introduced Erica came out of her bow and, without even looking at the teacher, walked towards Ichigo. Since Ichigo disliked having too much attention he was in the far back corner next to the window leaving only an occupied, by Yuri, seat to his right, an occupied seat in front of him, and an empty seat behind him. Ichigo was praying she wouldn't do anything to draw further attention and just take the empty seat behind him. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

Instead she walked up the aisle, stopped between him and Yuri, and gave said one simple sentence…that set the room into an uproar.

"You, girl, leave your seat, I desire to sit next to my future husband during class."

Ichigo in an uncharacteristic, at least to the school, show of emotion slammed his head into his desk and proceeded to start swearing rather colorfully, an action that caused several nearby students to blush upon hearing. Ichigo just let himself tune out of the situation as he let voice to his frustration and as a result didn't pay attention to Yuri's explosive reaction and the subsequent argument between the two females that occurred. By the time he had felt he had vented enough the situation had resolved itself, with Erica taking the seat behind him as per the teacher's orders. The rest of the class was either staring at Ichigo in awe or glaring at Erica in either jealousy or anger depending on gender.

For Ichigo this meant his headache just increased in strength as the day wore on as lunch break drew ever closer, where he knew he would be quickly swarmed by his classmates for answers if he wasn't quick enough. It hadn't taken long for Ichigo to realize that Erica was part of a magical association and was here to here to enter his service as a means of creating ties to said organization. The only thing he didn't understand was why she had declared him to be her future husband. Either her personality was naturally mischievous, she truly desired (or thought) him to be her husband, or even worse both. Regardless of the reason thinking about the possibilities sent a shiver up his spine.

With those thoughts and the intense stare he felt coming from behind him (along with the slightly murderous aura coming from Yuri) made it difficult for Ichigo to pay attention that day, so he didn't. This meant that he, thankfully, had enough time to book it out of the classroom before anyone had finished putting away their supplies. Ichigo knew that in the long term his running away was futile as the whole school would be made aware of what happened before the day was out, but in the short term he didn't care.

He had only been in his hiding spot, also known as the roof, for a bit more than a minute before he heard the shouting drawing closer. He recognized the voices as belonging to both Yuri and Erica, and he could guess as to the nature of their conversation. Ichigo had planned on finding her later, after he had eaten lunch and enjoyed some peace and quiet, but that plan was now shot so he resolved himself to deal with the situation now.

When Ichigo suddenly appeared in front of the two bickering girls, well one bickering and one struggling to hold in her laughter, their 'conversation' instantly died as their eye's widened in surprise. They both recovered fairly quickly so when Ichigo gave the single command of 'explain' Erica didn't hesitate to obey, and her previous mischievous look was replaced by one of a serious soldier.

"As you know my name is Erica Blandelli and as you may have guessed I'm here for you. I work for the Copper-black Cross and have been sent to serve you Campione-sama."

"I'm assuming that was the chosen method as a means of giving your organization more…physical, ties to me, correct?"

"Yes."

"Do you know about the nature of my deal with the Historical Compilation Committee?"

"My organization has been told yes."

"Then I'll agree to this as long as they agree to the same terms, except for me being part of their decision making process. I don't particularly care about what happens in Italy, all I care about is them providing me information on any unclaimed Heretic Gods that I can kill, is that acceptable?"

"Yes, the Committee told us that'd likely be the case, though I'm sure my superiors will be pleasantly surprised that your demands are less than expected."

Ichigo just gave a small grunt of acknowledgement.

"Last question, why the hell did you call me your husband?"

With those words Erica's previous serious expression was replaced by a rather mischievous look as she gave a small teasing laugh.

"I don't remember saying that you were my future husband. All I did was say I came here to be with my future husband and then demand to sit next to my husband. It could have been one of the other boys sitting next to Yuri here. Could it be that you…like me Ichigo?"

In response to her teasing Ichigo just gave her a deadpan stare, that only caused her give another small laugh to in response.

"A servant to a Campione is a servant to life you know? The vow of a servant is to take care of _any_ needs you have or any problems that might come up. Is that not similar to what a wife would do?"

While Ichigo just sighed in answer to her words Yuri, who had been standing quietly to the side up till now, turned as red as a tomato as she struggled to form a coherent sentence. Ichigo could guess as to the nature of her response, sometimes she's just too easily provoked, though at least this time he knew it was intentional.

While Yuri tried to deny she had such a relationship with him, and berate Erica for her thinking like that, and Erica just watched on in amusement Ichigo tried to think about his response. Her personality was sort of similar to Yoruichi's, though thinking about his older sister figure still filled him with pain, so he knew his usual response would only egg her on. Not that he could really act like an innocent schoolboy any more anyways. He also doubted that leaving the situation alone would be a good idea either. Maybe channel his inner flirt and fluster her into being quiet? It had the potential to backfire spectacularly but Ichigo had never done it before and he didn't really have anything to lose.

"Well now Erica-chan, I didn't know that's what being a Campione servant entails. I must be grateful then that the Copper-Black Cross since such a stunning woman to…service me. Maybe I can show you the…proper way to take care of my _needs_."

Ichigo's words were whispered gently into Erica's ear and were accompanied by him gently caressing Erica's face. That combined with the deep Husky voice he did it all in had apparently had the intended effect and more, though there was an accidental casualty. Erica immediately lit up like a Christmas tree before fainting followed quickly by Yuri. Thankfully they were close together so he was able to catch them before they hit their heads on the ground even though he was surprised as to the effectiveness of his actions.

"Huh, I guess I can see the reason and the appeal behind Yoruichi's flirting now."

Apparently saying her name out loud hurt more than just thinking it and as a result Ichigo's mood went from amused to somber in an instant. Ichigo decided to not wake them up as he desired a silent atmosphere at the moment so he just leaned the two of them against the wall. Ten minutes later, and with neither of the girls waking up, Ichigo got a call on the new phone the Committee had provided him

Answering the phone Ichigo's expression remained impassive as he listened to the voice on the other end, before simply saying he would take care of it. Apparently there was a rampaging phantasmal beast about fifty or so kilometers outside the city. It wasn't very strong and it wasn't related to any Heretic God so he didn't really need to deal with it, but he decided to fight it anyway. His reasons were both to test his new powers and to simply blow off some steam.

Ichigo had found that he didn't have to use his Fullbring with his Authority but doing so had more benefits, such as his increase in speed and the ability to superheat his sword. Of course all his testing resulted in him quickly burning through the remaining Shinigami powers infused into his Fullbring and as a result it was back to the shadowy cloak it had been previously. Ichigo didn't know if he was able to evolve it again (like Chad had done with his) or not but had decided to attempt to do so when possible.

While he his strength (and speed) had dropped with the new form his Authority helped make up for the vast majority of the difference. Ichigo planned on being back by the time lunch ended, which was in another 20 minutes or so, so he went all out from the get go. Unleashing both his Fullbring and doing his, now memorized, aria Ichigo was ready to go. Instead of the shadow black Shihakushō facsimile he now appeared to be covered in a flaming kimono with intermittent black crescent moons. His sword was now more solid in appearance and looked like a katana forged from black metal with a dull red hamon (blade pattern), while both his arms were wrapped by black shadowy chains.

All in all he looked cool and Ichigo liked his appearance. He was also grateful for his training as he had learned to **not** create giant shadow or fire pillars when he unleashes his powers. As Ichigo ran through the air faster than most eyes could follow, he still hadn't figured out the hiding trick that bastard Tsukishima had used, he didn't notice that both Yuri and Erica had woken up.

Both girls had been woken up when they had felt him release his power but had been too stunned by his appearance to even move let alone say anything. They both thought that he was too beautiful for words, what with his handsome features, long orange hair and regal looking kimono. As a result both girls had a blush on their face as Erica's earlier half-teasing words became slightly more serious while Yuri just started to crush on Ichigo harder.

 **AN: That's the chapter; bit more slice of life stuff and an introduction to Erica. Still don't know if I'm going to bother with a pairing in this fic or not. As people have likely guessed by now all of Godou's 'harem' will be making appearances in this fic, though I'm not sure if the situation between them and Ichigo will be similar or not. Opinion's on if there should be a pairing (and what the pairing is) or not are welcome, currently I'm leaning towards not, at least for a while. Anyways that's the chapter.**

 **Thanks for reading,**

 **Ren**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: I'm not dead and neither is the story, I've just been really busy IRL with my job. Classes are starting up again but I'll no longer be working so expect updates sooner than three/four months. Anyway, on to the story.**

Like he was informed, Ichigo found the beast to be extremely weak and the "fight" lasted less than a minute. Still as a stress reliever it did its job well enough, who knew that watching a giant tree thing would try and its best to imitate breakdancing to put his fire out. Ichigo was slightly worried about his new found sadistic tendencies but didn't dwell on it too long; after all it was just too amusing.

Ichigo made it back to school with a couple minutes to spare before lunch ended and was grateful, albeit surprised, to see that Yuri and Erica weren't on the roof anymore. He wanted some peace and quiet before class in order to bring himself out of his battle mindset, and after his parting words he doubted he would have gotten that with them around. Releasing his Authority and Fullbring his thoughts turned to his two "servants" and his face paled slightly as he realized something. Erica would likely try and move in with him.

While not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself as Ichigo didn't particularly mind what she did it did make him think of Shizuka's likely response to Erica. When taking in to account Erica's attitude and explanation as well as his teasing…yeah Ichigo was screwed. Well he might not get berated by his sister too much Ichigo could definitely see a headache in his near future.

Hearing the warning bell go off Ichigo dragged himself out of his thoughts and went to class, nothing like the boring monotony of lessons to clear your mind of other thoughts after all. He wasn't surprised to see Erica and Yuri already sitting in their seats though the small "eep" from Yuri and the shy expression on Erica's face was slightly surprising.

 _Maybe the teasing was a bit too much? Nah it was too amusing to not be worth it. Still maybe I should tone it down in the future; I'd rather not give them the wrong idea._ Ichigo thought before mentally shrugging to himself, deciding to deal with things as they come and not worry about it too much.

The rest of the day went by as normal, as long as one disregarded the increased whispering, glares in both his and Erica's direction and the increasingly depressed expression on the teachers face as his students mostly ignored him. An outside observer would likely be amused by the scene but for Ichigo it just brought irritation and the second coming of his headache. So it was a small relief when the school bell rang for the last time that day. Well it was until he noticed that Erica, along with Yuri, was following him on his way to pick up Shizuka.

While he had expected Erica to move in with him (though admittedly it had slipped his mind) he had expected her to show up at his home not follow him. Yuri was even more of a surprise as she had club activities after school and shouldn't be going back yet, though he expected she was doing so because Erica was. It was times like these that he wished he still had ready access to medical supplies, like extra strength headache medicine. Of course that thought brought a pained grimace to his face that he quickly got rid of, he didn't want Shizuka to see him sad and he was almost at her class.

When he opened the door a small smile graced his lips as he saw Shizuka excitedly talking with her friends by her seat. He knew that more often than not her "happiness" was forced or fake as she didn't want to make him or her grandfather worried, but that was slowly changing. Right here her happiness was neither forced nor fake, and the joy in her eyes when she turned and caught sight of him assuaged the still lingering guilt he felt, even if it was just a little bit. Of course her happy attitude didn't last long once she caught sight of his Yuri and her expression turned downright scary when she caught sight of Erica.

"Onii-chan… what is that girl doing here, and who is this?" Her voice was deceptively quiet and everyone except for Ichigo and Erica who either didn't catch or was unfazed by the underlying malice in her words shivered involuntarily. Before Ichigo could even open his mouth Erica beat him to the punch.

"My name is Erica Blandelli an exchange student from Italy and the future husband of Ichi-kun here?"

While Ichigo was confused by his new nickname he missed the sound of cracking wood coming from Shizuka's desk as she reacted to Erica's words. As a result Ichigo's first hint that something was going on was a rather hefty textbook hitting him in the back of the head. The angry tirade that followed was even above his expectations but the only hint of surprise on his face was the faint lifting of one of his eyebrows. Meanwhile both Erica (and Yuri), who were also targets of Shizuka's wrath, were cowering behind Ichigo, something that amused him as he thought about ordering them to go face the full brunt of his sister's anger by themselves. Oops, there's that new found sadistic streak again, definitely need to watch that.

It took a good bit of time and a lot of promises of explanations in the future before Ichigo was able to calm Shizuka down enough that he could get close enough to her to push her wheel chair without getting smacked with a book…or bitten. Of course that lasted only long enough to get home when Erica just claimed out of nowhere to be moving in with us. It was expected and he wouldn't have denied it anyways but it would have been nice to have been at least asked first.

Of course after his explanation he was exempt from her anger and much like with Yuri it had turned to a different target, mainly Erica. At that point Ichigo had left the two unfortunate servants with his sister so he could get some peace in his room and (hopefully) get rid of his headache.

Ichigo's room was Spartan; there was no better word to describe it. It had a bed, desk with a chair and lamp, fan and a dresser, nothing else. There were neither decorations nor personalization and the only reason one could tell it was lived in was the slightly messy bed and desk. He had of course been offered, many times, the ability to furnish it how he liked but Ichigo hadn't accepted. At first it was because he hadn't planned on making this his home but now it was that he just doesn't want to be reminded of his old home by decorating his room according to his usual tastes.

Setting down his school bag Ichigo quickly changed into a set of plain black exercise clothes before leaving his room and heading to the house's courtyard. He could still hear Shizuka's angry voice in the background, though the words were too muffled to make out, as he walked through the house shaking his head in faint amusement.

Reaching the courtyard Ichigo, for the second time today, utilized his Fullbring and was quickly clad in writhing shadows. Since he was only planning on traveling to the training location and time was not an issue he didn't bother using his authority to speed up his travel time. It was also a good practice to minimize his authority usage in general as while his authority didn't have a daily usage limit it did have an overall time limit of sorts and recovery was generally slow.

In order to not get spotted by a person randomly looking up he traveled through the sky fairly high up, enough to be nothing but a dark speck in people's eyes. The trip was peaceful and Ichigo spent it simply enjoying watching the scenery pass below him. While he wasn't technically flying (it was more running on air) it was close enough that it was hard for anyone to not enjoy the feeling, even if they had done it many times before. It wasn't long before he reached his destination though and his mind switched from enjoying the scenery to thinking about what he would be training today.

His previous fight and all his previous training sessions were all centered on his Authority and he felt that, for now, he had enough of a grasp on it. Instead Ichigo wanted to experiment with his Fullbring powers. When he was training with Xcution they had only told him the extreme barebones facts and focused on evolving his Fullbring to the point where he could add his Shinigami powers to it.

His ability to use Bringerlight was done entirely by himself using his observations, instinct and past experiences so he had no knowledge of how it works exactly. The only "explanation" he got was when he heard Ginjō (the bastard) mumble something about Fullbringing the ground/air. The explanation didn't really make sense to Ichigo just based on what he knows as the act of Fullbringing was the ability to manipulate the soul in an object that a person was emotionally close to.

 _Of course that explanation was given to me by the same bastards who betrayed me so let's look at what I know._ Ichigo thought to himself. _All Fullbringers have a main object that they use to fight with, that is a fact. The powers might be mundane or bizarre but they all seem to be at least be derived from the object used. My Combat Pass gives me an appearance and ability similar to my former Shinigami powers for instance. If Fullbringing manipulates a physical object's soul then why is it necessary to have an emotional attachment to it? After all I don't have an attachment to the ground of air (except for the need to live on the former and breathe the latter)._

 _Taking that into account I should be able to Fullbring any physical object, no matter the size (after all air molecules are beyond tiny)._ His thoughts finished for the time being Ichigo decides to experiment and test his hypothesis on a nearby stick.

It took him awhile to find the stick's soul but he managed, though he hoped it would get faster the more he practiced. The first thing Ichigo tried to do was to try and manipulate the stick and blend his soul with it like he does with his combat pass. Unfortunately, it did not work as when he tried he immediately felt strong resistance and no matter the force he exerted was unable to overcome it.

 _So maybe an emotional attachment does play some role, so I can't utilize it as a Fullbring but maybe I can do something else with it, after all I don't Fullbring the ground the same way as my combat pass._

Ichigo's next test was trying to manipulate the soul of the stick without blending his own with it. The souls of objects were strange and difficult to put into words. Unlike what one would expect they do not take the form of the object they reside in. Instead it's more like a small ball that has the sort of "feeling" of the object. For his Combat pass it was slightly different (maybe because of his attachment to it) and the soul was complex with many different traits, like power, resolve the feeling of shadows and so on. For the stick's soul well…it felt like a stick: solid, rough and dried out.

For this experiment Ichigo tried moving the soul like he did with the ground's/air's. The result was the stick flying out of his hand and into the sky. It made sense once Ichigo thought about it since he was essentially "pushing" the soul up with hands. He figured that if he could push it up he could also easily push it down or to the side so after retrieving his wayward branch that's what he tried next, and as expected it worked. The next step was seeing if he could replicate the same feats without being in contact with said stick. The answer was no, at least not yet.

When he tried finding the sticks soul from a distance he found out he couldn't after it was more than a meter away from him, and manipulating said soul was impossible. However, Ichigo had much better luck with his combat pass, likely due to a stronger connection between his soul and its. He could sense it from much further away and even manipulate it slightly when it was close enough but it was difficult. He thought as his familiarity with his powers went up it would get easier and he could even do so with objects other than his Combat Pass. For now though that was a dead end.

For the next couple of hours Ichigo tried many different experiments with many different objects and his end results were as follows:

He can move an object in any direction as long as he was in contact with it and could, to an extent, control the speed of the movement.

He could reinforce an object's soul by expanding it to conform to the objects shape, thus making the object more durable.

The soul of an object could be manipulated to change an object physically. For his trusty stick Ichigo was able to make it vaguely pointier and even make it look slightly less dead.

He can manipulate multiple objects souls at the same, though the difficult of doing so is high.

Finally the emotional attachment (or potentially familiarity) he has to an object not only makes manipulating its soul easier but influences the degree of change he can make as well. The amount of resistance he feels when trying to blend souls with the object also decreases (his clothes had slightly less resistance than the stick).

All in all it was a rather informative evening and Ichigo had more ideas to explore in the future. For instance possibly utilizing two true Fullbrings (his word for Fullbrings like his Combat Pass) at the same time or utilizing ordinary objects as improvised projectiles.

The return home passed in the blink of an eye as Ichigo thought about his discoveries and his future training path. Before he knew it he was landing in the courtyard and walking to the nearest bathroom to wash off the dirt and sweat he had accumulated. Stripping himself of his clothes and wrapping a towel around his waist Ichigo pulled open the door to the bath and stepped in. It wasn't until that point that the thought of maybe knocking first had occurred to him.

"KYAA!" While the scream sounded a bit off to Ichigo he reacted immediately…by turning into a klutz and tripping over himself in surprise, resulting in his grip on his towel coming undone. It wasn't until he heard the laughter that he realized he had been had by his grandfather, who currently had tears in his eyes. Growling lowly Ichigo pushed himself off the floor (temporarily forgetting about his towel) as he prepared to chew out the old man. Unfortunately, this was just not his night as apparently the rest of the house had heard the scream to.

How did he know you might ask? Well he knew because before he could say a word the door was thrust open as a worried looking Yuri opened the door, only to get a prime view of Ichigo's bare ass. The result was predictable as the poor girl lit up like a Christmas tree before fainting (Ichigo swore he even saw steam rising from her head). Bad things always happen in pairs however as just when Ichigo grabbed his towel and was wrapping it around his waist again Erica made her appearance. She lasted long than Yuri but alas she too went down like a sack of tomatoes.

Ichigo finished wrapping his towel and went to move the two girls out of the bathroom all the while listening to his grandfather howl with laughter in the background. He could only sigh as he felt his headache come back with a vengeance as he heard the sound of Shizuka's concerned voice draw near.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: So my laptop, which is what I write on, fried and I lost all my work on this chapter as well as my story notes otherwise this would have been out a couple of weeks ago. Admittedly I'm kind of stupid since I didn't back up my stuff but I've learned my lesson. I honestly just haven't been in the mood to write this again until now.**

Ichigo was nothing like Erica had expected him to be like. Sure she had been given all the information the Copper-Black Cross had on him, but that wasn't saying much. He had seemly popped into existence a few months ago when he was taken to a hospital for life-threatening injuries. Before that there wasn't even a whisper of his existence. The current (and most accepted) theory was that he had been either born away from civilization or grown/created. Either way it was thought that he had been held by some magical group that was experimenting on him, likely to create a magical super-soldier if his ability to kill a God had anything to say about it. The nature of his first appearance in the world likely meant that he forcibly escaped from where he was being held.

All this plus his demands of the Historical Compilation Committee and the general impressions of past Campiones led to Erica's organization being able to create (what they thought) was a fairly reliable profile of Ichigo. What they (and she) had expected was an extremely mistrustful and standoffish young man who was plagued by guilt and almost desperate for strength to protect himself from further harm. Thus the Copper-Black Cross decided to send Erica to not only convey their offer to work with him but to seduce (both figuratively and literally if she could) him to their side. Erica not only had the right personality to win Ichigo over and gain his trust but also had enough strength to not be seen as a burden or a vulnerability. Naturally Erica had been briefed on all this and had agreed on the condition she had full authority on how she went about her mission, which was naturally granted.

Thus Erica's decision to attend Ichigo's school and her rather unique introduction as it not only fit her style but was a decent means to convey her sincerity and, hopefully, gain an initial amount of trust. Of course there's a difference between knowing intellectually about Ichigo and meeting/talking to him herself. Her first impression was that the profile, at least for his personality, was nearly spot on but even on the first day they had met she had realized the profile was too simple.

It was really his eyes that clued her in on the hints she had missed. If you just interacted him as a simple acquaintance or classmate, you would think him nothing more than a naturally withdrawn person (who admittedly just experienced a death in the family). His eyes were like stagnate lakes normally, lacking that small spark of light your average teenager would have. When he was alone, or thought he was at least, his eyes were like those of a corpse and it frankly scared her when she first saw them on when she sought him out on the rooftop. What was even more telling being how he acted with his sister, outwardly he acted like the carefree older brother but his eyes gave lie to that. They were filled with the expected grief and guilt but what troubled her the most was the glint of madness that lurked deep within.

No, the backstory and personality profile her organization had come up with definitely missing a lot of details or just plain wrong in many places. His ability to put up a mask to hide his feelings was expected but he seemed too practiced with switching personas and too comfortable with his act for him to not have done so in a similar setting before. Then there were his powers, there was no magic she had ever seen nor heard of that resembled what he has shown her so far. She would have asked but she doubted it would have gone over very well and she was working hard to be seen favorably. Her fellow servant Yuri also knew nothing despite being with him longer than her, though she had apparently just been too timid to ask instead of thinking it wouldn't work.

She had known a bit more about Ichigo than her and after a lot of coaxing had shared what she had managed to find out/observed. From some hints she had picked up from conversations between Shizuka and her grandfather Ichigo had, had a family and close friends but something bad happened to them before they met him. She didn't know what it was, and even that bit of info was pieced together from multiple different slip ups but it changed things. It was obvious their primary guess of his past was likely completely wrong and he wasn't some previously abducted magical experiment. If that was the case what had happened that was so bad as to have driven him to this point, and what were his powers and how did he get them?

It had gotten her so frustrated that she had asked Yuri if she had or would use her Spirit Vision to check for any information. Poor girl was terribly bad at lying so it was easy enough to cajole her into sharing what she had found, though it left her with yet more questions. Apparently there were no memories of him existing before he had first showed up, and the only possible reason was a memory of a disturbance in the netherworld itself right before then. So with no real answers and even more unanswerable questions she had given up for the moment.

Eventually she might be able to ask Ichigo herself but for now it was a moot point and there were much more fun challenges than figuring out his past, like trying to get a rise out of her new master. Ichigo was by and large unfazed by her antics, likely due to his emotional state, and has actually been beating her when it came to teasing. It was obvious, to her at least, that he not a flirt at heart and was likely projecting someone else's personality but it was fun none the less. If only he was as easy as Yuri was to fluster though, he'd be cute with a blush.

 **-Line Break-**

It had been about a week since Erica had pledged herself to Ichigo and subsequently moved in with his family, the house was much more…lively than before. Yuri was a nice but shy girl and bar a few situations, mostly started by Shizuka, hadn't changed much in the house. Erica was nice enough as well but her personality was about as close to the polar opposite of Yuri's as you can get. The flirting/teasing was entertaining enough for him but it reduced Yuri into an embarrassed mess and his sister into what can only be described as an overly protective and jealous girlfriend, or mother Ichigo wasn't quite sure which was more apt.

Then there were her eating habits, just thinking about them caused a small shudder to crawl up Ichigo's spine. It was unnatural for such a, comparatively, small girl to eat that much food and not have any outward change in appearance. Luckily food costs weren't a worry anymore otherwise he'd probably have to look for a part time job. He also thought he was quite lucky to have Yuri living with them as well as he didn't think he could handle having to make sure she was awake in the mornings; girl could easily be mistaken for a zombie.

Of course for all her boisterousness it was obvious she was highly intelligent and judging by the looks she gave him knew or likely guessed more about him than he would like. Thankfully she had not questioned him about anything, despite the clear curiosity about his past and powers. In hindsight it was not the smartest idea to use his powers around her if he didn't want to know much about him. It was likely a moot point anyways considering she appeared to have a growing friendship with Yuri and could ask her about what she knew, though it took him until now to realize that. Which brings Ichigo back to the present.

Standing across from him at his training ground was Erica wearing what was apparently her knight uniform, consisting of black pants, a black top and a red and black shall thing (he wasn't quite sure of its actual name). If he was honest with himself, she looked quite good and it suited her well. The reason why they were here being that Erica had (repeatedly) asked for a spar so as to show him her combat ability. He had refused initially as for one thing he didn't see fighting as being a job for anyone other than himself and for another he had a not wanted to display his powers any more than he already had.

He was quickly corrected about his first reason by Erica with a detailed explanation of what being a servant to a Champione entailed (something Yuri hadn't likely due to her shyness and lack of combat ability) and another explanation about her training and "job" as a Great Knight. The other reason he had eventually worked through himself thus leading him to accepting her request. He doubted he would ever trust her enough to fight beside him, or even if he had that amount of trust couldn't bring himself to fight alongside a potential friend again, but it did little harm. Plus, he had currently zero experience fighting anyone from this world and thought that magic would be interesting to see. There was also something he wanted to try out in regards to his Fullbring powers in a combat situation to test their viability.

"Are you ready then berry-kun?"

Ichigo twitched at the nickname, it brining up some unwanted memories, but nodded to show his preparedness.

"Alright then, here I come."

With those words Erica raises her right hand as a scarlet magic circle appears before her.

"Come, lion of steel. The one carrying the spirit of the lion, the steel that carries the essence of battle! Respond to my hand and voice! Your name is Cuore di Leone... The warrior inheriting the name of the lion-hearted king! The knight Erica Blandelli swears thus, I will return your loyalty with valor and chivalry!"

Seeing a silver lions head popping out of a magic circle was intriguing, seeing Erica shove her hand down its throat before pulling out a sword (and then spinning for some odd reason) was almost funny. He didn't laugh though, mostly because he could sense the strength in that weapon. From what he could gather from both his instincts and fledgling soul perception that weapon was powerful and wild, like a lion (though describing it as such felt like a cop out).

While he was analyzing Erica's weapon, which had taken her preferred form as a rapier, Erica had wasted no time in starting her attack. Despite him being distracted Erica's quick lunge was avoided as Ichigo used bringer light to jump backwards. Not being discouraged by attack failing Erica continued to attack without pause launch thrusts with her rapier at a speed that would have seen Ichigo "dead" if he hadn't been using bringer light to subtly nudge his body out of the way. It was a technique he had thought of a couple days ago. Instead of using bringer light on a large area of "ground" to propel his whole body at high speed he instead used it on an extremely small area to move part of his body and assist in dodging. For instance, now when Erica was shoving a very sharp sword at his face he used it as he was moving his head to the side to accelerate the movement.

It had the potential to be a very handy technique once he worked on it…a lot because if his body hadn't exceeded a human's after becoming a Champione he would have turned himself into broken bones and meat patty. At this point Erica had been launching a flurry of blows at his head and chest for about a minute as Ichigo dodged seemingly nonchalantly, something that bruised her pride somewhat. In response she switched tactics and launched a side kick to Ichigo's ribs catching him off guard and causing him to stumble slightly. It was all the opening she needed as instead of drawing back her extended rapier for a thrust she cut down with the edge instead.

Ichigo was subtly impressed at her combat ability, correctly surmising that she had long term extensive training in combat. The kick did no real damage thanks to his enhanced body but the surprise of it caused him to lose concentration. As such he decided to work on his next trick. From out of Ichigo's pockets flew a number of coins of different denotations from 5 to 100 yen, all surrounded by a flickering green glow. Another thing Ichigo had been working on was using bringer light to push towards multiple or all directions at once. It admittedly didn't have much use for him personally but it did allow him to essentially control the flight of objects he was using his powers on. His control was very rough and he couldn't control anything bigger than a coin currently but for now that was enough. Moving the coins while simultaneously strengthening their durability he quickly created a shield that caught Erica's blade a few inches from his shoulder.

To say Erica was surprised by the appearance of glowing flying coins was an understatement, that those same coins managed to avoid getting completely cut in half left her too stunned to even blink. A fact that Ichigo wasn't nice enough to not capitalize on as a bringer light speed enhanced punch quickly buried itself in Erica's stomach, thus ending the spar due to the pain and shock knocking her out. Interestingly her sword disappeared when she lost consciousness and Ichigo was left with some rather badly mangled coins floating by his head.

Erica woke up after about 30 minutes or so, which both surprised and impressed Ichigo, looking incredibly confused to feeling something soft under her head and seeing Ichigo's face above her. Ichigo had decided to mess with her a bit and gave her a lap pillow while she was unconscious.

"Good morning, or should I say welcome back? Anyway in case you're wondering you lost the spar."

Erica just looked incredibly flustered as she tried (and failed) to form a coherent response. Ichigo was enjoying her discomfort as well her rapidly reddening face but pretended to ignore it.

"You fought well and even surprised me a few times, I'm impressed. Your sword technique was good and your improvisation was also top notch, your reaction to surprises was poor though. I am a little hurt that you were so ruthless in your attacks though, how can you be so quick to assault your master? Don't you love me anymore?"

Ichigo gave a fake sob as Erica finally regained her ability to speak long enough to give a hasty denial to that. Though she quickly quieted down after Ichigo started to stroke her head, though that was more to do with the increased embarrassment than from the reassurance the action could have portrayed.

"Well that's enough of that. I do have a question for you though. Do all female knights of your organization have to wear an equally stunning outfit or did they recognize that your beauty deserved such a…enticing outfit."

Erica looked like she was about to go explode as her face reached increasingly vibrant shades of red. Ichigo for his part stopped stroking her head as he adopted a contemplative look, like he just remembered something important.

"That's right I almost forgot something." Ichigo pulled out the mangled coins from his pocket. "You owe me 1145 yen."

Erica's expression was priceless and Ichigo took the opportunity to take a picture of it on his phone for future uses. Ichigo just gave a small chuckle as he watched Erica sputter unintelligibly while she struggled to raise herself out of his lap. The spar had been interesting and more of a challenge than he had thought, of course he hadn't used his actual Fullbring but for a human she was strong. He didn't think they would fight anything side by side for a long time, if ever, but the sparring sessions would likely continue. If nothing else, it at least helped him flesh out some ideas for uses of his power. That it had also gave him an opportunity to mess with Erica was just a bonus. Ichigo just hoped that her attempts at payback wouldn't be too extreme, though like a curse that thought caused a shiver of apprehension to go up his spine.

 **AN: Well that was the chapter, it wasn't what I originally written but I think it went well enough. Got some more glimpses of future fighting technique of Ichigo and some humor as well (hopefully). I did attempt to give Erica's perspective on Ichigo and might do one for other people later as well. The slice of life stuff will be ending now and next chapter will get to a main story segment finally so for anyone tired of it rejoice. Lastly for anyone interested the story statistics stand at 50,500 views, 119 reviews, 423 favorites and 536 follows. That means a lot to me and I thank you all for your support.**

 **-Ren**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: It's been awhile people. Life's been busy, messy and bad in equal parts but I don't care to get into details. Here is the next chapter of Reaper of Gods. Expect updates from my other stories sometime in the near future as well. Enjoy.**

The couple of weeks following Ichigo's spar with Erica had been interesting to say the least. Her payback had been as swift as it was ruthless, almost enough to make him regret his teasing… almost. The only regret he did have was her involvement of Shizuka in her revenge, and he still wasn't completely buying her claim that it was an accident. Erica swore that "his" dirty magazines were meant to be found by Yuri or Ichirou but the subtle guilty look she had made that claim dubious at best. It had taken him two whole days to convince his sister that he wasn't some kind of sexual deviant and the "lectures" she had given him during that time still haunted his dreams. He'd have his revenge though, no one introduces his little sister to concepts like S&M and bondage and gets away with it.

The semi-regular sparing sessions he had been having with her were good for letting off steam but they weren't suitable as a form of punishment or revenge. He had a few ideas but nothing concrete yet, he was still debating the benefits/demerits between a public and semi-private humiliation. Still, despite all his gripping the time following their first spar had been some of the liveliest the Godou family has had in a long time. It was almost like things were back to normal and Ichigo had almost felt truly happy for the first time since his fight with Tsukishima.

He was no-where close to being over the event and he was still deeply depressed but it was a start, which might have been Erica's plan from the beginning. That girl was frighteningly perceptive and he wouldn't put it past her to have noticed his mental state. Ichigo wasn't sure why she was trying to fix him, they had just met recently and despite her claims of being his fiancé (or first wife depending on her mood) he doubted she knew enough about him to have significant feelings for him. Maybe she was following orders, or simply didn't want to serve the "Emo Champione" for the rest of her life. Whatever her reason it left him conflicted, did he really deserve to be happy again? Ichigo didn't think he could even if he did. If he started feeling happy again he'd relax more around the people he interacted and if he did that he'd start to feel more attached. This world was just as dangerous, if not more so in some aspects, than his home world and a moments inattention could result in the death, injury or something even worse and he didn't think he could deal with such a blow again.

He was a Champione now, a Godslayer, and that made him a target. Hollows attacked Shinigamis whenever they could and more often than not they are less intelligent than humans, something that definitely wasn't true for Gods. If Hollows went out of their way to attack their natural enemy why wouldn't the Gods as well. What made an attack even more likely was the fact that there were only seven Championes including him and with him being the newest and thus "weakest" he was likely target number one. There were also his "colleagues" to worry about as well. The reports he was given on his fellow Championes painted them in a not very flattering light to his eyes. Simply put they were weird and generally unpredictable for the most part. Only two of his contemporaries, Madame Aisha and John Pluto Smith, were people he didn't think would attack him randomly. Luo Hao, the Black Prince Alec and Lord Salvatore Doni he could see coming to fight him for one reason or another, though Alec was who he was most warry of the three considering he might "take interest" in anything or anyone around him, such as his new family. The one that put him most on edge by far though, was Sasha Dejanstahl Voban, the reports on whom painted the picture of an unholy lovechild between Mayuri and Kenpachi. He was a man that Ichigo was almost 100% certain would come after him at some point, and he wouldn't hesitate to use his family as leverage to make his "prey" more lively.

Which was why he had been so focused on training/experimenting with his both his Fullbringer powers and his only working Authority. His results so far, while good were still not good enough for his tastes. The only reason that he had killed Prometheus was that he had gotten lucky and the last dregs of his Hollow's power had taken over again. If it hadn't been for that he would have died. Of course he was stronger now than before even if his Fullbring had gotten weaker thanks to the enhancements that came from being a Campione but he wasn't satisfied with just that. Which was why, as he stared out of the window of his classroom, ignoring his history teacher, he was thinking about yet another way to get stronger.

Fullbringers were people who had born been from mothers who had survived a Hollow attack while pregnant and the spiritual powers gained as a result had a distinct tint of their kind as well. Combined with his knowledge of the fact that Fullbringers were able to manipulate the souls of objects he was wondering if he could do something intrinsically Hollow. He was wondering if he could get his personal Fullbring to "eat" the souls of other objects to get stronger. In theory it seemed plausible, especially considering how his previous semi-unique status as a Vizard and how his power was closer to a Hollow's in flavor than the other members of Xcution. He had concerns of course which was why he hadn't tried it immediately after coming up with the idea a couple of days ago.

For one would his Fullbring "evolve" like a Hollow would? Would it, after "consuming" enough object souls become akin to a Gillian? If so would he still be able to call upon it like normal or would the original soul get "buried" under the multitudes of others it would consume. Another concern was whether or not his Fullbring would take on characteristics of the souls it consumed or not. If it did would it would the change be drastic like his clothes become made out of yen coins or something? If it was subtler would be something like gaining a piece of paper's flimsiness and flammability if it fed enough of them to it? If it didn't gain anything beyond the "strength" of the soul itself was there a limit and if it was crossed would it damage it? Finally, what would happen to the objects whose souls were "eaten"? Ichigo assumed they would be destroyed but something else might happen that he couldn't begin to predict.

The best thing to do would be to test it with a random object that he wouldn't mind losing if things went poorly. The problem with that was that despite the progress he had made with his powers he didn't have as much control over miscellaneous junk as he did his personal Fullbring, for obvious reasons, and wasn't sure he could get it to work. Still you don't know until you try, so he would make an attempt this weekend. He would also try using his powers on "stronger" objects as well. Since he didn't have anything that was personally important enough to him for another true Fullbring he was wondering if he used his powers on an older object, one that had its own history like an ancient sword, that would work instead.

Ichigo was brought out of his musings by the sound of the bell ringing, signifying both the end of the class period and the end of school as well. He let out an almost inaudible sigh as he once more noticed the stares he was getting from his fellow classmates. He had been popular since the first day he showed up so it wasn't that he was unused to be stared at but it was how he was being stared at was the problem. Erica's introduction on her first day had made things bad enough but when people saw not only the "Hot new transfer student" walk home with him but the "Number 1 beauty Jounan Academy" as well thing had gotten downright terrible. That wasn't even taking into the consideration that there was a scarily accurate "rumor" that both of them were living with him. Hence his sigh as he braved the jealous/heartbroken/scandalized masses. Hopefully he wouldn't have to deal with the idiot trio today.

The idiot trio consisted of Nanami, the "leader", Sorimachi, the "imouto expert (/fetishist)" and Takagi, the "gullible muscle", and were both the source of the rumors and Ichigo's new found dependence on headache medicine. The three idiots were jealous of Ichigo for a lot of reasons but hated him for "hogging the hot girls" and have made several attempts to "coerce" him into "giving up his claim" on both Yuri and Erica. All attempts failed as, thanks to his years spent being friends to Keigo, he had a well-honed idiot detector and instinctively foiled any "attacks" before he consciously noticed them. Which was yet another reason why even more people stared at him differently, Jounan Academy wasn't used to casual displays of violence against idiots it seems.

Eventually, when he was about halfway towards his sister's classroom, he was intercepted by his servants/sort-of-acquaintances. Erica, as per usual, immediately tried to strike up a conversation of the more… risqué variety. Yuri, being the rather conservative and all together shy person she was, desperately tried to ignore her fellow servant's words while steadily becoming more and more red in the face. Ichigo, for his part, simply ignored her as was also the norm since he didn't feel like pretending to be more of a flirt than he actually was. He also knew that sooner rather than later Yuri wouldn't be able to take it anymore and would stop Erica herself, from which a different conversation/argument would start that didn't involve him and he'd be free to walk in relative peace.

Ichigo's thought touched on the topic of Yuri. Despite her being his classmate before he became a Campione and the fact that she had been his servant basically since the beginning of his change of status she never initiated any conversations with him. Even on the rare occasions he spoke to her first she never talked more than absolutely necessary. That coupled with her general demeanor and body language when around him made it seem like she was extremely wary, almost afraid of him despite her obvious crush on him. Ichigo thought it had something to do with his being a Campione and her status as his servant. Since she was part of the magical side of the world she had probably been told tales of Campiones before and, with members including Voban, it wouldn't be too surprising if those tales had made it a point to instill a since of fear in the listener/reader. Add to the fact that Yuri was a very traditional girl and thus likely took her role extremely seriously and her current attitude was the result.

Ichigo wasn't too upset about it, since he didn't particularly want people trying to get close to him, but it did feel slightly uncomfortable to be treated so formally. He never was and never really be one for proper etiquette, just ask Byakuya. Hopefully she would loosen up in the future.

He came back from his thoughts upon arriving at his sister's classroom. Shizuka didn't have club activities today so she was coming home with him today instead of Yuri, who was in the tea ceremony club with her surprisingly. At first Ichigo had simply come back to get her after club activities were finished but, despite his protests, had been persuaded to let Yuri be the one to do so instead. Yuri and Shizuka had formed a fairly decent friendship despite their age differences and Shizuka's belief that Yuri was trying to seduce Ichigo. With that being the case, and with Shizuka admitting she was starting to feel a little smothered by him, he had conceded defeat. Thankfully, for Ichigo's peace of mind, the club only met three times a week so he could still look after her himself some days.

The walk back to their shared home settled in the new, but already familiar, routine that had started since Erica's appearance in their lives. Ichigo would push his sister's wheelchair and simply walk quietly. Yuri, who tended to walk on his left, and Shizuka would start a fairly normal conversation about school or other daily-life type topics. Erica, who took her place on his right, would switch between occasionally trying to flirt with Ichigo to trying to get Yuri to light up like a neon sign before Shizuka had enough and berated Erica for being shameless. Erica would then retaliate and they would proceed to squabble until Yuri stopped them and the cycle would reset.

Today however, the routine was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. Specifically, Ichigo's phone. The break in normalcy was enough for him to pause for a split second before he had Yuri took over pushing his sister so he could answer the device. When he pulled his phone out it was clearly recognizable that it was one of the newest models. For those that new Ichigo well, or those who were perhaps more observant, that wasn't what caught their attention. Instead they paid attention to the slight tensing of the young man's body and the slight hardening of his eyes. Most would wonder why answering a phone would provoke such a response. What they don't know however, is that the phone was given to Ichigo by the History Compilation Committee and was only ever called by members of said group when they had information he had deemed important for him.

"Ichigo."

Following his rather blunt way of answering the phone was a brief period of time, no more than a minute, where Ichigo simply listened. During said period of time Ichigo's body language switched from simply tense to "battle ready". Finally, after weeks of waiting, there was a Heretic God for him to defeat. What's more it was in Japan and by rights no other Campiones could get to it before he could. Ichigo would have been almost happy at the news if it wasn't for the simple fact that a God descending to Earth from its legend usually ended in deaths, and a large number of them.

"Got it, I'll be heading there now."

Without waiting for any further words he ended the call and turned to face his apprehensive, but curious, companions.

"A Heretic God just descended in Yokohama, they don't know which one but it's apparently not too fond of humans. Luckily the casualties aren't too high yet and since it's relatively close things shouldn't get too bad before I get there. Yuri, Erica take Shizuka back home."

Done speaking Ichigo grabbed his ever present Combat Pass and willed his Fullbring into existence and, without waiting for any acknowledgments from his servants or sister, leapt into the sky and took and pushed his Bringer-light to its fullest, his expression shifting from the visage of raw determination he had shown to his companions to one of pure hatred and bloodlust once he was out of their view. If he had waited he would have seen the rather put off expressions on his servant's faces and the expression of naked fear on Shizuka's as she had flashbacks to the incident with Prometheus.

-Line Break-

A neighborhood block was burning, its denizens crying out in absolute agony as they were forced to remain conscious as their bodies slowly burned to ashes. A figure watched from above, relishing their pain and drinking in their despair. How it absolutely loved watching mortals suffer. How it simply delighted in watching them pay for their many crimes.

The figure was drawn from its revelry as it felt the reason for its appearance change, growing stronger and moving closer. It was the defiler, the one who had touched by what was his and not only had the gall to remain alive but to have been accepted as well. It was unforgivable. It was an insult and the defiler would suffer for their crimes for eternity. The figure snarled and flared its power, mocking the filth with its presence, goading the mongrel with its location. Soon…soon it will right this affront.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Some of the reviewers were correct about who the Heretic God is so all I will say is good job. Admittedly it isn't much of a surprise if you think about it despite my trying to keep the identity vague but meh. Anyways here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy.**

 **PS: I do try my best to research topics I'm unsure of when I write, like I did for the God in this chapter but I'm no expert. Some differences might be intentional while others were an accident, regardless I hope no one takes offense.**

Ichigo was running through the sky, pushing his bringerlight enhanced speed to the max, the shadowy form of his Fullbring wiping wildly in response to his agitation. His blood felt like it was boiling from the anger he was feeling towards the Heretic God. Over even his general anger for anyone/anything killing innocent people was a deep seated hatred for Gods after his fight with Prometheus. Unlike Hollows, all Gods had at least human level intelligence so they can easily comprehend the results of their actions if they chose to. But they didn't seem to care and treated humans like they were bugs or trash and killed them for fun or simple disgust. At least Hollows had the excuse that they needed to eat souls to "live" (in a manner of speaking). Except for Grandfisher Ichigo had never truly hated a Hollow, pity them yes, get angry when they attacked his friends or an innocent yes, but hated no, not really. The Gods? Hatred was too kind a word for what he felt. There general behavior would be enough to for him to hate them as it was if he had learned about them at any point before becoming a Campione, but after? The amount of rage and bloodthirst he felt towards their kind after they crippled Shizuka and killed her brother would make even his Inner Hollow feel intimidated.

That being the case the fact that the only sign of his agitation was his Fullbring's chaotic movements (the shadows snapping around at random and his blade rippling like a blazing flame) and a dark glint in his eye's was rather impressive. Of course there was also another source of his agitation. The closer Ichigo got to Yokohama, and thus the Heretic God, the stronger a rather peculiar feeling inside of him got. It felt like something inside of his soul was resonating with something and like a child feeling anxious in front of their mother or a subordinate feeling nervous about meeting their superior. It was unsettling. There were only a few "foreign" beings/powers that have resided in him before. His Shinigami powers, his Inner Hollow and the powers he had gotten from Prometheus. None of the entities that could have a connection to those powers (or remnants of them) would be weak.

Either the Heretic God was linked to the afterlife or was linked to a source of fire that outclassed the one he had received from killing Prometheus. Neither were particularly good as Ichigo wasn't sure how it would impact his ability to fight but in the end it mattered little. He would find whatever God it was, kill them and take their Authorities for himself, it was as simple as that.

It was with that simple thought in mind that Ichigo finally arrived in Yokohama. He stopped at that point as he didn't know exactly where in the city the God was and needed to determine that if he didn't want to run around blindly. Fortunately, or unfortunately if you consider the reason, he could see a part of the city burning with a cloud of smoke rising above it which, unless Yokohama was really unlucky today, was caused by his target. Location determined Ichigo rocketed off towards his confrontation with his enemy.

 **000000000000**

The figure of an unknown being stood in the sky, watching with barely contained ire as their primary target grew closer. The tortured cries of the mortals who have suffered horrific injuries but haven't been awarded the privilege of death the only thing keep the being somewhat calm. A sudden burst of wind catches the smoke obscuring their tormentor allowing the few humans that retained their sanity to recognize the figure to be that of a woman. No further details were able to be determined as the smoke clung unnaturally to her body and face, obscuring them from prying eyes.

Luckily for them the Goddess didn't pay enough attention to them to realize they had attempted to look upon her figure otherwise their deaths would be even worse than they were experiencing now. Oh how the Goddess loathed humans, the defilers that stood upon the children she had birthed. The vermin that continued to be born faster than death could claim them. She had tried to kill her own husband when he had dared to look at her face, for a human to even think about trying, let alone attempting to do the same would be enough for her to unleash her full power upon the surrounding area regardless of her desire to wait for the defiler to appear.

She wasn't sure he had done it but the abomination had somehow gotten a piece of her power. Not only did they obtain but they been accepted by it as well. It was galling! Like she would ever deign to grant a human a portion of her power, yet that was exactly what it felt like. She had felt the resonance with the fragment of her power even in her own Legend. That was the reason why she had chosen to come down to the realm of mortals for the first time in a millennium. To regain what was hers and show these humans just what it meant to try and take and use what was hers!

Her anger had reached the boiling point by this point and she was about to vent her frustration on another nearby group of mortals when she finally felt "its" presence enter the city. The feel of her own power, twisted as it was, so near was enough to alert her that battle would soon commence. She wasn't sure how strong the aberration was, nor did she particularly care, certain in her own power and ability to kill it. But it was better to not waste any energy at this point in time when it would be better suited to make the mortal suffer when she finally got a hold of them. They would pay, as would all these humans defiling her children.

 **0000000000**

Ichigo had just entered the burning section of Yokohama when he saw his target. More than just see it, he felt it. The presence inside of him gave a sharp lurch at the sight of the God, like a dog pulling hard to get off its leash. It almost Ichigo stumble but he recovered, not taking more than a second to re-orientate himself enough to charge at his opponent. He would not waste his breath trying to speak, he would not waste a second trying to analyze his enemy and he would not hesitate to go for the kill immediately.

With a brutal exertion of bringerlight Ichigo launched himself at the smoke obscured target, sword poised and ready to instantly cut down his target with brutal efficiency. The figure made no move to defend themselves but Ichigo didn't care and brought down his sword in a vicious chop to the Heretic God's neck. He even used minor applications of bringerlight on his arm his arm and the back of his blade to accelerate the cut. Apparently this was either startling enough or perceived as dangerous enough for the figure raise an arm, with smoke and shadows condensing around it, to defend themselves.

The blow was intercepted easily and without the telltale sensation of flesh being cut, the only sign that his attack had landed was the shock in his arm and the smog being blasted away from the gods left arm, revealing the sight of a badly decayed arm covered in maggots and a tattered sleeve. Ichigo processed this in a fraction of a second, uncaring about his opponent's physical appearance, before continuing his assault.

Utilizing bringerlight on his front he launched himself back, away from the figure, before shifting his momentum to the side to avoid the God's counter attack, an arm thrusting right towards his heart. Ichigo replied with his own thrust aimed at his opponent kidneys, boosted once more with liberal application of his bringerlight. The God dodged with Ichigo's sword scraping through the smog covering their torso, dispersing it and leaving a cut in its rotting kimono, revealing bits of maggot infused flesh peeking through the tear. In retaliation the Goddess let lose a cry of abject rage and feminine fury, her gender confirmed by the sound of her voice, before launching a blindingly fast backhand toward Ichigo's face.

Ichigo had to brutally thrust his head back with his Fullbring powers to avoid the blow, nearly giving himself whiplash if not for his enhanced physique. He retaliated with a brutal chop towards the Goddess's legs, his sword not in a position to easily attack in any other direction. His opponent threw herself back, avoiding the blow and ending disengaging from the fast paced melee for a brief moment. Ichigo wasn't about to let up though, intent on killing the Goddess as quickly as possible, and released a wave of his shadowy reiatsu in an imitation of Zangetsu's Getsuga Tenshou. This, as it turns out, was a wrong move because as soon as the attack left his immediate presence the Goddess somehow managed to gain control over it, dispersing then absorbing it into the shroud surrounding her body.

"Foolish boy! I know not how you obtained this power nor how you prevent me from controlling it while it's under your control but it is still MY power! It is mine to use as I please not yours!"

Ichigo said nothing, merely filing the information away in his mind before resuming his attack. Pushing his body and control over his Fullbring to the limits he circled the angry Goddess at high speeds. Not enough to leave full "clones" of himself like his Bankai but enough to leave faint after images. The strain on his body was immense, and would have completely shattered it before his becoming a Campione, but it seemed to work. The Goddess couldn't seem to keep track of him and seemed to grow increasingly frustrated by that fact. Eventually her anger got the best of her and she lashed out with a wild punch at where she believed him to be, missing completely and leaving her wide open. Something that Ichigo didn't hesitate to capitalize on.

His sword swing was fast enough to cause a small sonic boom and the muscles in his right arm screamed in agony as his pushed them beyond their tolerance, but it was enough. His attack was aimed right at her torso, Ichigo wasn't taking the chance of going for any of her appendages and letting her have a small chance of getting off with light damage. Instead he aimed to cleave slice her from collarbone to hip, it was impossible for one's torso to dodge by itself after all.

His opponent made a valiant attempt to dodge backwards, succeeding in preventing him from cutting off her left arm/should and preventing the cut from outright destroying most of her organs (if she had any). The smoke/shadow veil that surrounded her body also helped in the regard, as she desperately attempted to condense it, but it to was cut through, the Goddess not having the time to armor herself with it to the same degree as earlier. The wind pressure combined with the force of the sword swing itself was enough to blast away the veil surrounding his opponent, revealing her figure fully to his eyes for the first time.

She was a corpse, a maggot infused corpse. Her eye sockets were nothing but empty pits of darkness, her hair was gone in random clumps and what remained looked like it was dipped in sewage. Her skin was emaciated and crawling with maggots. Her once expensive kimono was tattered and looked as dirty as those worn by poor he had seen in the Rukongai. If Ichigo wasn't so hyper focused on killing her he would have recoiled in horror at the sight, but instead he merely resumed his attack. The Goddess seemed surprised by his non-reaction to her appearance but was still able to dodge backwards when Ichigo sent a hail of thrusts towards her body.

Ichigo followed through with his assault, launching a violent storm of thrusts and swings in a random pattern at various parts of his opponent's body. Each swing and riposte backed by liberal bursts of bringerlight, the added force making his already protesting arm muscles scream in agony but Ichigo ignored it with pure force of will. The Goddess for her part was dodging wildly as she struggled to call back her veil, each attack getting closer and closer to scoring bigger and bigger cuts on clothes and skin.

Luckily for her previous injury, despite being fatal to any normal person, didn't seem to hinder her at all, otherwise she'd have been finished almost instantly. Whether it was due to her Divine status or the fact that her body was, for all intents and purposes, already dead Ichigo didn't know. Ichigo assumed the latter when he observed the lack of blood and the abundance of rotting tissue and dead bugs coming from the wound. He didn't spare the thought much attention after noting that detail other than a small note that he'd likely have to completely destroy her body or head to finish her. Ichigo had just scored another moderate cut to one of the Goddess's arms when she finally seemed to have enough and changed her approach.

"Enough! I've had it with your impudence boy! I am **Izanami-no-Mikoto** and the power of death is mine to control! Drown in your despair as you witness the power of Yomi!"

As if her words were a trigger the now named Izanami-no-Mikoto was surrounded by a whirlwind of smoke and shadow, darker and denser than the kind that previously made up her veil. Ichigo could feel the power inherent in it and how the constant pull within him doubled in intensity at the feel of it. He had been able to ignore it during the fight and he could ignore it now, all it meant that it was a good time to up his own game.

"I am the Harbinger of Fire. I am he who stole the True flame from the Gods. I am he who burns for eternity but is never consumed by flame. Let all who stand before me be consumed by fire and despair at my fury!"

When Ichigo activated his Authority he made no attempt to prevent the tornado of fire that tries to rise when he cloaked himself with his power. In fact, he did the opposite, pushing the flames to their limit in an attempt to overshadow the storm of shadows surrounding his opponent. On one side the fire of a new born star, on the other the shadowy maw of a black hole, each trying to bury the other. The few surviving humans around them died under the pressure while those further away trembled in a mix of fear and awe as the power of a God Slayer clashed with that of a Goddess.

 **AN: For those who guessed Izanami, congratulations, one free internet cookie for you. Hope you liked the chapter, I changed the Authority Invocation a little to be less bad, hopefully you agree it's better. I had debated with myself at one point between Izanami and Lucifer as his second Heretic God but decided against it. I liked Hell Verse and would have used that if I had chosen Lucifer but the movie doesn't fit well into Bleach canon and didn't think The Devil/Christianity fit into the Campione verse very well.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Ren**


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